Inclusive Education Practices for

Secondary School Students with

Disabilities in Bangladesh

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the Degree

of Master of Education endorsed in Inclusive and

Special Education

by Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman

University of Canterbury

2011

II

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments………………………………………………………… VI

Abstract…………………………………………………………...………. VIII

Glossary………………………………………………………………..….. XI

Acronyms…………………………………………………………………. XV

Chapter 1. Introduction……………………………………..............…...…… 1

1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………….................. 1

1.2 Background and Context………………………………………................. 7

1.2.1 Evolution of Education Provision for the Students with Disabilities

in Bangladesh…………………………………...............................

8

1.2.2 The Existing Provision of Education for Children with...................

Disabilities in Bangladesh……………………………..................

11

1.2.3 Analysing the context…………………………………….............. 14

1.3 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………............... 23

1.4 Research Questions………………………………………………............. 27

1.5 Significance of the study………………………………………................. 29

Chapter 2. Methodology…………………………………………………. 38

2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………................. 38

2.2 Methodological Decisions………………………………………............... 38

2.3 Research Design………………………………………………….............. 41

2.4 Methods for Data Collection…………………………………................... 44

2.4.1 Interview…………………………………………………................. 44

2.4.2 Interview Schedules………………………………………................. 45

2.4.3 Participant Observation………………………………………........... 49

2.4.4 Observation Schedules………………………………………............ 51

2.4.5 Questionnaire………………………………………………............... 52

2.4.6 Descriptions of the Scales…………………………………................ 54

2.5 Participants: Selecting and Gaining Access………………………............ 56

2.6 Scope of the Study………………………………………………............... 59

2.7 Organising, Analysing and Interpreting Data…………………….............. 59

III

2.8 Analysis of Observation Data…………………………………….............. 63

2.9 Validity, Reliability, Rigour and Trustworthiness………………............... 64

2.10 Triangulation ……………………………………………………............. 65

2.11 Ethical Issues………………………………………………..................... 66

Chapter 3 Results……………………………………………………..….. 68

3.1 Qualitative Analysis from Interviews…………………………….............. 68

3.1.1 Pragmatic View of Inclusive Education……………………............ 69

3.1.1.1 What is Inclusive Education?.............................……........... 69

3.1.1.2 Need for Inclusive Education Practice…………….............. 71

3.1.1.3 The Way to Success Within an Inclusive Setting…….......... 73

3.1.2 Pros and Cons of Inclusive Education Practice……………............. 75

3.1.2.1 Barriers and Challenges of Inclusive Education Practice..... 75

3.1.2.2 Educating Students with Disabilities at Secondary Level....

in Bangladesh……………………………………….............

79

3.1.2.3 Knowledge on Legislation…………………………............. 80

3.1.3 Enrolment and Evaluation System ………………………............… 81

3.1.3.1 Non-supportive Enrolment Procedure …………….............. 81

3.1.3.2 Assessment and Evaluation…………………………........... 82

3.1.3.2 Peer-Assessment……………………………………............ 84

3.1.4 Teaching and Learning Practice…………………………..…........... 85

3.1.4.1 Quest for Effective T-L Strategies…………………............. 85

3.1.4.2 Lesson Plans……………………………….............………. 86

3.1.4.3 Classroom Teaching Strategies……………………............. 87

3.1.4.4 Managing the Class……………………………………........ 89

3.1.5 Hidden Disability and Inclusive Practices in Secondary Schools......... 91

3.1.6 Empowering Teachers in the Classroom……………………………... 93

3.1.6.1 Aspiration within Practice……………………………............. 93

3.1.6.2 Teachers‘ Responsibility ……………………………….......... 97

3.1.6.3 Teaching Social Skills to Students with Disabilities……….... 99

3.2 Analysis of Questionnaire……………………………………………........... 100

3.2.1 Attitudes and Beliefs…………………………………………............. 100

3.2.2 Teaching Strategies……………………………………………........... 103

IV

3.2.3 Open-ended Questions……………………………………….............. 106

3.3. Findings from Observations…………………………………………............ 108

3.3.1 Teaching-Learning Strategies…………………………………............ 109

3.3.2 Evaluating Teaching Learning Activities……………………….......... 111

Chapter 4. Discussion and Recommendations…………………………. 113

4.1 Discussion……………………………………………………………............. 113

4.2 Recommendations……………………………………………………............ 132

4.3 Implications of the Findings………………………………………............ 137

Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 139

Bibliography………………………………………………………………......... 141

Appendices………………………………………………………………........... 158

Appendix 1. Interview 1: Guideline for the Teachers……………………............ 158

Appendix 2. Participant Observation Schedules…………………………............ 160

Appendix 3. Questionnaire on Teachers Practices and Attitudes toward.............

and Concerns about Inclusive Education…………………..............

163

Appendix 4. Interview 2: Guideline for the Teachers…………………................ 167

Appendix 5. Information Letter for Teachers…………………………................ 170

Appendix 6. Informed Consent to Participate from Teachers…………............... 173

Appendix 7. Information Letter for Head Teacher/ Principal…………............... 175

Appendix 8. Declaration of Consent to Participate (From School)……............... 178

Appendix 9. Ethical Approval Letter from ERHIC……………………............. 180

Appendix 10. Permission from Appropriate Authority of Bangladesh and............

Consent of the Local Contract…......................................................

181

V

List of Figures

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of inclusive educational practice………. 26

Figure 2. The meaning of understanding…………………………………... 28

Figure 3. Methodological framework …………………………………. 43

List of Tables

Table 1. Public special education facilities for children with disabilities in.....

Bangladesh…………………………………………...........................

12

Table 2. Analysis of the ‗Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale‘……….. 102

Table 3. Rating teaching strategies………………………………………......... 104

VI

Acknowledgments

Inclusive education is a relatively new term in the education system of

Bangladesh. It is both a precondition and a result of social history, which could

undermine the existing values of the society. As the Father of the Nation of

Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman said, ―Education will be

the means of freedom.‖ In this case, only inclusive education can enhance

freedom for students with disabilities and support the notion of social justice in

education. However, it was a challenge to carry out a research study to explore

teachers‘ perspectives of inclusive education practices in Bangladesh. It was

made possible with support from various people including family members,

friends, colleagues, teachers and others.

I sincerely acknowledge the role of my honoured supervisors Dr. Dean

Sutherland and Professor David Mitchell, for their assistance and precious

input extended for the study. I also wish to express sincere appreciation to

Abdullah Mohd Nawi for his assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. In

addition, a special thanks to Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, Professor Garry Hornby,

Dr. Missy Morton, Dr. Deb Hill whose familiarity with the needs and ideas of

the class were useful during the initial programming phase of this undertaking.

I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to Professor Janinka

VII

Greenwood and Professor M Wahiduzzaman of Dhaka University for their

inspiration, guidance and practical ideas in the completion of the thesis.

The involvement of participants working at schools within an inclusive setting

made a significant contribution to this study. I am honoured to realise their

sincere contribution to the study. Thanks also to the members of the School

Managing Committee and Head Teachers for their valuable support. I would

like to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Nazrul Islam, Project Director, TQI-

SEP, Professor Taslima Begum, Director (Training), DSHE, Principal and

colleagues of Dhaka and other TTCs.

This study attempts to meet the requirement and vision of a better future for

students with disabilities in mainstream education settings. I am truly confident

that the findings of the study will serve as a guide to rethink the classroom

practices within the development horizon of inclusive education in order to

ensure the invisible and vulnerable group, the ―students with disabilities‖ are

included in mainstream education.

VIII

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand and describe the

inclusive education practices for students with disabilities in secondary schools

in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, ensuring all children with disabilities attend

schools especially mainstream classrooms is a priority, rather than ensuring the

quality of instruction. An underlying belief in Bangladesh is that if quantity can

be achieved, then quality will increase. This is why I decided to examine

teachers‘ perspectives (central phenomenon) of inclusive education. There is no

research that describes or supports Bangladesh teachers‘ perspectives.

Many theorists have taken different angles on the conceptualisation

surrounding disability and education. This project is underpinned by the social

constructivist view of disability that has developed from the works of Lev

Vygotsky (1896 –1934). The underlying premise is that teachers are all experts

in different ways, and that their different experiences and understandings are of

value. On the basis of socio-cultural theory, a conceptual framework has been

developed to understand inclusive practices which are viewed from two levels:

the Macro and Micro levels. For delimitation in terms of time and scope, my

research is located within the two components of micro level practice

especially focusing on the quality of instruction and teachers‘ values, attitudes

and beliefs within my conceptual framework. This study intends to answer the

main research question: How do teachers in secondary schools in Bangladesh

understand inclusion? In this connection, understanding is seen as an

IX

inseparable and interconnected outcome of practices, attitudes and beliefs, and

knowledge of teachers. The research used a phenomenological research design

consisting of participant interviews and observations. An additional

questionnaire was used to measure teacher attitudes and understanding of

teaching strategies. A total of 12 interviews (two for each participant classroom

teacher) and 12 observations (two of each participant) were conducted.

This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter based

on an extensive review of the literature. Chapter 2 describes the study

methodologies, chapter 3 presents the analysis and significant findings and

chapter 4 contains the discussion, draws recommendations and explores the

implications of the findings.

The study explores valuable information to identify the existing inclusive

practice at the secondary level in Bangladesh. Respondents stated the need for

and potential benefits of inclusive education practice, because inclusive

education was supporting collaboration among students with and without

disabilities and fostering academic achievements. Teachers encountered

enormous challenges in practicing inclusive education due to their inadequate

knowledge and limited professional development scopes. The barriers for

teachers within inclusive education practice are likely the result of their beliefs

and experiences in relation to students with disabilities and professional

support. Positive attitudes toward appropriate teaching and learning for

students with disabilities could improve the situation. Unfamiliarity with local

X

disability legalisation of teachers is likely to limit the opportunity for students

with disabilities to gain access to what is rightfully theirs. Teachers identified

that success within their practice is largely depending on their strategies for

managing large class sizes and coping with excessive class load. Modification

of existing assessment and evaluation system was also revealed as an option to

better embrace inclusive education.

Participants found that student-centric evidence-based teaching and learning

strategies are more effective than their traditional lecture-based teaching and

learning practices in supporting inclusive education. Teachers‘ discomfort in

dealing with students with hidden disabilities in terms of learning and

behavioural difficulties portrayed negative aspects of inclusive education

practice in Bangladesh. In such a situation, empowering teachers in the

classroom may be helpful in order to construct inclusive pedagogy.

Finally, the findings of the research will support policy makers and other

researchers learn about the constraints, opportunities and choices for possible

future changes in inclusive education policy and practice in developing

countries such as Bangladesh. Moreover, the research will contribute to wider

national and international debates around inclusive education.

XI

Glossary

Class VI. The first grade of existing secondary education of Bangladesh which

comprises three tiers such as Junior Secondary (from Class VI to VIII),

Secondary (Class IX to X), and Higher Secondary (Class XI and XII).

However, this system is about to be reviewed after the new education policy

2010 was approved by the Bangladesh parliament. Successful student who

successfully complete a public examination and graduate with a Primary

School Certificate, are eligible to enrol at class six. The age range of students in

Class VI is 11+.

Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia. A neurological disorder, it involves

motor planning throughout the body when the brain is unable to communicate

directions to the muscles. With no obvious physical indications, it has been

referred to as the hidden disability (Stansell, 2007).

Hearing Impaired. Disability Welfare Act 2001 of Bangladesh (Act no 12 of

2001) defined hearing impairment as one‘s loss of ―hearing capacity in the

better ear in the conversation range of frequencies at 40 decibels (hearing unit)

or more, or damaged or ineffective hearing‖ [Ministry of Scocial Welfare,

2001, Section 3(2) (C)].

Hidden Disability. A disability that may involve no observable problem, but

students may experience difficulty understanding classroom lessons.

XII

Intellectual Disabilities. The Disability Welfare Act 2001 defined ―mental

[intellectual] disability‖ as - one whose mental development is not at par with

his/her ―chronological age or whose IQ (Intelligent Quotient) is far below the

normal range; or has lost mental balance or is damaged, partly or wholly‖

[Ministry of Social Welfare, 2001, Section 3(2)(A)].

Madrasah Education System. A traditional religious-based education system

that parallels the general education system in Bangladesh. There are two types

of Madrasah education: Alia Madrasahs and Qawmi Madrasahs. Alia

Madrasahs combines the religious education and modern general education.

The establishment of these Madrasahs, the appointment of teachers, and the

curriculum development all follow government regulations as mandated by the

Madrasah Education Board. On the other hand, the Qawmi is not recognised by

the government. Both of the systems have their own equivalent ties to general

education such as primary, secondary and higher education.

Mainstream. Refers to the formal schooling of the general Bangladesh

education system where children with disabilities are placed and need to follow

the regular curriculum.

Physically Handicapped. According to the Disability Welfare Act 2001 of

Bangladesh (Act no 12 of 2001), physically handicapped refers to a person who

has one of the following conditions. These are: ―lost either one or both the

hands; lost sensation, partly or wholly, of either hand, or it is so weaker in

normal condition ; lost either one or both the feet; lost sensation, partly or

XIII

wholly, of either or both the feet, or it is so weaker in normal condition; has

physical deformity and abnormality; or has permanently lost physical

equilibrium owing to neuro-disequilibrium‖ [Ministry of Social Welfare, 2001,

Section 3(2) (B)].

Students with Disabilities. According to the Disability Welfare Act 2001 of

Bangladesh (Act no 12 of 2001), ―Disability‖ means any person who is

physically disabled either congenitally or as result of disease or being a victim

of an accident, or due to improper or maltreatment or for any other reasons

became physically incapacitated or mentally imbalanced, and as a result of

such disability or cognitive impairment,- has become incapacitated, either

partially or fully‖ [Ministry of Social Welfare, 2001, Section 3(1)].

School Based Assessment (SBA). SBA is a process for assessing the

continuously progress of students learning by the classroom teachers.

According to the Ministry of Education Directives in Bangladesh, thirty percent

of total marks of a subject in secondary level (from grade VI to IX) are for

SBA course work. Therefore SBA=AFL+AOL (AFL denotes Assessment for

learning and AOL stands for assessment of learning). SBA consists of three

components in assessment; these are a) Coursework, b) Individual

Development and c) Terminal and Final Examinations.

School Managing Committee (SMC). The committee is empowered for

governing the non government recognised secondary schools in Bangladesh.

According to the Section 39 of the Intermediate and Secondary Education Act

XIV

1961 (E.P.Ord.No.XXXIII of 1961), the school managing committee is formed

and supervised with the regulations of the Boards of Secondary and Higher

Education of Bangladesh. SMC consists of 13 elected members.

Speech Impairment. Disability Welfare Act 2001 of Bangladesh (Act no 12 of

2001) refers ―loss of one‘s capacity to utter/ pronounce meaningful vocabulary

sounds, or damaged, partly or wholly, or dysfunctional‖ [Ministry of Social

Welfare, 2001, Section 3(2)(D)].

Visual Impaired. The Disability Welfare Act 2001 of Bangladesh (Act no 12

of 2001) refers visual impaired to any person who has any of the following

conditions: ―No vision in any single eye; or in both the eyes; or visual acuity

not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (Snellen) in the better eye even with correcting

lenses; or limitation of the ‗field of vision‘ subtending an angle of 20° (degree)

or worse‖ Ministry of Social Welfare, 2001, Section 3(2) (A)].

Multiple Disabilities. One who suffers from more than one type of disability.

For example, a student who may be deaf and blind together with having

physical disabilities.

XV

Acronyms

AAB : Action Aid Bangladesh

ABC : The Assessment of Basic Competency

ATIES : Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale

B.Ed : Bachelor of Education

BD : Bangladesh

CBR : Community Based Rehabilitation

CPD : Continuous Professional Development

CRC : Child Rights Convention

CRPD : Convention on the Rights of Peoples with Disabilities

CSID : Centre for Services and Information on Disabilities

CSIE : Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education

DG : Director General

DPE : Department of Primary Education

DSHE : Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

DSS : Directorate of Social Service

DVD : Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia

EFA : Education for All

ERHEC : Educational Research Human Ethics Committee

GoB : Government of Bangladesh

HI : Hearing Impaired

ID : Intellectual Disabled

IDEA : Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

IEP : Individualised Educational Plan

IQ : Intelligent Questionnaire

MDG : Millennium Development Goals

MoE : Ministry of Education

NGOs : Non-Government Organisations

NZ : New Zealand

PD : Physical Disabled

PEDP-II : Primary Education Development Program -II

PTA : Parent Teacher Association

XVI

SWD : Student with Disabilities

RTLB : Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour

SACIE : Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive

Education Scale

SBA : School Based Assessment

SCEMRB : Society for the Care and Education of the Mentally

Retarded

SMC : School Management Committee

T-L : Teaching-Learning

TQI : Teaching Quality Improvement

TQI-SEP : Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education

Project

UN : United Nations

UNESCO : United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organisation

UNFPA : United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF : United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

VI : Visually Impaired

1

Chapter 1

Introduction

1. 1 Introduction

Inclusive education is the most common approach to address the

educational needs of all children (Ainscow & Miles, 2008; Miles &

Singal, 2010; Mitchell, 2009; Pathy, 2010; Ruijs, Van der Veen &

Peetsma, 2010). According to Idol (2006), inclusion means that students

with special needs attend general school programmes and are enrolled in

age-appropriate classes for 100% of their schooling. Inclusion is a widely

accepted phenomenon according to UNESCO (2005) for two reasons:

firstly, education is a right that is part and parcel of modern society.

Inclusion can foster democratic values (Engelbrecht, 2006; Ferguson,

1995; García-Huidobro & Corvalán, 2009) in the pursuit of social justice

(Artiles, Harris-Murri & Rostenberg, 2006; Gerrard, 1994; Moberg &

Savolainen, 2003; Slee, 2001). Secondly, it is a feasible option, and an

integral part of the principles of equality of opportunity in education

(Mitchell, 2010). Recent studies show that inclusive education provides

the best opportunities to support the development for people with

disabilities (Thomas & Loxley, 2001).

Inclusion is an educational philosophy that emphasises the rights of all

children to attend their local school and is common throughout the

2

western world. Inclusion is a comparatively newer concept in developing

countries such as Bangladesh. Research is yet to clearly record the

outcomes of inclusive education on the quality of life of students with

disabilities (Hornby, 1999). Moreover, Lindsay (2003) recognised the

needs of research in inclusive education to inform policy and practice. In

this respect, the purpose of this research is to throw light on teachers‘

practices supporting inclusive education. It is predicted that the greater

the skills that teachers have in dealing with students with disabilities, the

more effective their teaching (Angelidies, 2008) which will have

significant implications for the ultimate quality of life for their students.

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand and

describe the inclusive education practice for children with disabilities in

secondary schools in Bangladesh. At this stage in this research, the

central phenomenon which is the inclusive education practice will be

generally defined as the practice where:

The lessons correspond to the diversity of students, all students

have access to them, teachers plan, teach and assess their lessons

in collaboration, teachers are interested and support the

participation and learning of all students, parents and the

community are used as a source of support in the classroom.

(Angelides, Georgiou & Kyriakou, 2008, p.558)

3

Indeed, phenomenological studies report the meaning for several

individuals of their lived experience of a concept or a phenomenon

(Creswell, 2007). Van Manen (1990) stated, ―We adopt a

phenomenological perspective in order to help us to bring to light that

which presents itself as pedagogy in our lives with children‖ (p.44). For

these reasons, the researcher intends to undertake a phenomenological

study.

Sometimes inclusive education is explicit: with educators arguing for or

against it. For others it is implicit: educators manifest interest or lack of

interest. It is clear that the educators realise their engagement in swaying

others or are being convinced by them about inclusion in education as

well as in policy. In this manner, inclusive education has become a

tremendously powerful means to address education for the

disadvantaged. That is why policy makers all over the world yearn for

inclusive education as a general strategy for addressing the needs of

students with disabilities. Concerned with recompense as it is, inclusion

gives remarkable social force a purpose. It is for promoting good and

justice and checking inequality and prejudice laying in the education

system. That is the essence of education for all, and the United Nations

(UN) declares it as the defining mission for today‘s education:

―...considering the fundamental policy shifts required to promote the

approach of inclusive education, namely enabling schools to serve all

4

children, particularly those with special educational needs‖

(UNESCO,1994, p.iii).

Teachers encompass a pivotal part to the success of inclusive educational

practices (Macfarlane, 2007). They need not only the required skills and

knowledge to implement inclusive education successfully but also need

to have a positive attitude towards inclusion in their classrooms , because,

the teacher‘s attitude is highly pertinent to manage these students

(Macfarlane, 2007). To determine the intervention strategies for teachers,

their practice needs to be evaluated. A recent study researching teachers‘

practice from the light of socio-cultural theory showed that teachers‘

positive attitudes and reflection have a direct link with the success of

inclusion (Moen, 2008). Several researchers focus on teachers‘ attitudes

related to inclusion. In a study in India (similar to the Bangladeshi

context), Sharma, Moore, and Sonawane (2009) investigated the attitudes

and concerns of 480 pre-service teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of

Education program. They reported that these teachers‘ attitudes towards

inclusion were somewhat negative. However, studies have shown that the

attitude of general education teachers was one of the most influential

factors for successfully integrating students with disabilities into the

regular classroom (Sze, 2009).

Ferguson (2008) noted that inclusive practice is not easy because it

attempts to make learning available ―to everybody, everywhere and all

5

the time‖ (p.109). Inclusive practice is needed for teachers to be

responsive to all learners. The success of inclusive education depends on

the ability of teachers to facilitate a good learning environment and also

how effective teachers are in ensuring that their teaching caters for

everyone (Flem, Moen & Gudmundsdottir, 2004). This research helps

teachers understand what constitutes acceptable inclusive practice and

will enable them to explore key themes and issues regarding inclusive

practice.

A teacher‘s perspective of inclusive practice differs from developed to

developing countries. For example, the teachers in developing countries

view inclusion as problematic due to lack of appropriate support and

resources. A study into 1350 Zambian teachers [teachers in a developing

country] and parents, and 512 Finnish teachers [teachers in a developed

country] investigated inclusive education and the perceived best

placement for children with different disabilities (Moberg & Savolainen,

2003). The pursuit of inclusion in practice, especially the guarantee of

good and effective education for all, was seen as problematic by the

Zambian teachers. These teachers preferred a more segregated

educational environment for children with different disabilities. This

contrasted with the Finnish teachers who were in favour of full inclusion.

Considering these differences, the current study will contribute research

6

evidence to enable educators to have a better understanding of inclusive

practice from a Third world perspective.

Teachers‘ difficulties in responding to inclusive environments of teaching

and learning for providing equal opportunities of learning make inclusive

education questionable in some respect. Research shows that developing

inclusive practice is challenging for teachers (Angelides, Georgiou &

Kyriakou, 2008), and especially enormous for early year teachers

(Petriwskyj, 2010). Flem, Moen and Gudmundsdottir (2004) report that

creating a positive atmosphere and having good academic insights about

how teachers can foster inclusive practice is vital. Thomas, Walker and

Webb (2005) argue inclusion as ―an international descriptor of a

particular marriage of ethos and practice‖ (p.22). To understand such

ethos, we need to focus on teaching-learning practice. Throughout the

process, the research concentrates on answering the question of how

teachers could improve their educational practice to embrace diversity in

inclusive settings, and how teachers perceive inclusive education. As a

result, the study will explore teachers‘ understanding of existing inclusive

educational practices. Giving voice to teachers and parents regarding

inclusive practice would be noteworthy in this respect.

7

1.2 Background and Context

The Bangladeshi context has been considered for this research. In

Bangladesh, inclusive education is like a noun compared to the New

Zealand use of the term as a verb. Including all children with disabilities

in to schools, especially into the mainstream is a priority, rather than to

ensure quality of instruction. If quantity could be achieved, quality will

increase. This is why I wish to examine teachers‘ perspectives (central

phenomenon) of inclusive education. What are the values, belief,

attitudes and how do they (teachers) understand inclusion and what are

they doing in practice, and how do the parents of children with

disabilities perceive these teachers‘ action for their children? There is no

such research to support Bangladesh perspectives.

At present, the population of Bangladesh is approximately 164.4 million

(UNFPA, 2010) with around 10% who are disabled in some way (Ahsan

& Burnip, 2007), but the World Health Survey showed the disability

prevalence at 31.9% for Bangladesh during the period 2002–2004 (World

Health Organisation & The World Bank, 2011). The school age

population is about 16.39 million with an overall enrolment rate of 91%

(Government of Bangladesh [GoB], 2009). Many Bangladesh children

with disabilities experience no education with up to 89% of these

children not enrolled in schools (Directorate of Primary Education [DPE]

& Centre for Services and Information on Disabilities [CSID], 2002).

8

Research indicates that most children with disabilities want to participate

in education. However, a mere 11% of these children have so far gained

access to education (DPE & CSID, 2002). The vast majority of children

with disabilities do not attend school and a large percentage of children

who do attend mainstream schools often drop out due to inaccessible

school infrastructures and unpleasant school environments (CSID, 2002),

including non-inclusive teaching practice. In this context, a burning

question for educators in Bangladesh is how can this large number of

children be included in the education system?

1.2.1 Evolution of Education Provision for Pupils with Disabilities in

Bangladesh

Historically, disability in Bangladesh has been treated as a welfare or

charity issue for a long time. Nevertheless, over the last few decades,

disability has been become recognised as a wider societal concern (CSID

& AAB, 2002). Policymakers and educators are currently looking to

implement systematic intervention to address the educational needs of

children with disabilities in Bangladesh from the ‗rights-based‘

perspective. However, negative attitudes and practices reinforced by

poverty create barriers that result in exclusion of people with disabilities

from participating in mainstream experiences (CSID & AAB, 2002). In

this context, the vast majority of children with disabilities never attend

school and a large percentage of children who do attend mainstream

9

schools often drop out due to inaccessible school infrastructures and

unpleasant school environments (CSID, 2002a).

The understanding and practice of inclusive education in Bangladesh is

not as advanced as many other nations (CSID, 2002a). To value inclusive

practices, there is a need to understand how special education has

evolved over time. Special schooling started in the early 19th century,

and systematic integration was introduced after the independence of

Bangladesh in 1971. In the 1990s, education for children with disabilities

moved towards a community based rehabilitation (CBR) model. Since

the late 1990s, inclusive education has been systematically introduced

across Bangladesh.

The history of disability-rights in Bangladesh goes back to the 12th

century during Muslim rule. At that time people with hearing and speech

impairments had legal rights in the areas of bequests, marriage, divorce

and financial transactions (Ahmed, 2009). In 1914, during British

colonial rule, the first School for the hearing impaired was established

under the name ‗Lalbagh Deaf-Mute School‘ (Ahmed, 2009) in Dhaka.

Formal special education for people with visual impairments was

introduced in the 1960s. Four schools were established by the

Government in 1962 (Directorate of Social Service [DSS], n.d).

Established in 1918 at Kurseong, West Bengal, ‗The Children‘s House‘

was the first special school for children who were intellectually and

10

physically disabled, not only in Bengal but also in India (Miles, 1996).

After the emergence of independence in 1971, formal education services

for people with intellectual disability commenced when the Society for

the Care and Education of the Mentally Retarded (SCEMRB) was formed

(Miles, 1996). This was a non-governmental organisation run by the

parents of children with intellectual disabilities, psychologists, and social

workers. In 1978, a special class located on the grounds of an ordinary

school was established for children with intellectual disabilities in Dhaka.

Gradually, integrated education followed by home-based services which

were offered under a Community Based Rehabilitation programme

(CBR) established by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) took their

place in the education system of Bangladesh inclusion education and was

finally incorporated into the education system of Bangladesh in the late

1990s.

Globally, inclusive education has its origins in the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights (1948), the World Conference on Education for All

(1990), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). These

commitments were further reaffirmed in the UNESCO-organised

conference in Salamanca, Spain (1994) by the endorsement of the

Framework of Action on Special Education and the Dakar Framework for

Action 2000. Besides the United Nations (UN) initiatives, the United

States made a remarkable contribution to the field of inclusive education.

The concept of the least restrictive environment was introduced with the

11

All Handicapped Children Act [the US] of 1975 (PL 94-142) and further

clarification appeared through the Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act (IDEA). The IDEA act was passed in 1990 and renewed in 1997 and

2004, providing the first legal basis for inclusion.

Being influenced by the above legislation, Bangladesh has incorporated

inclusion into its primary education programme to include all children

with disabilities, from mild to moderate degrees, from the beginning of

the twenty-first century under a multi donor supported primary education

development program (PEDP-II) (Ministry of Primary and Mass Education,

2007). A Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project

(TQI-SEP) project also facilitated inclusion at the secondary level.

Various declarations, policies and laws as well as constitutional

statements are the basis of inclusive education in Bangladesh (Ahsan &

Burnip, 2007). The Disability Welfare Act of 2001 (Ministry of Social

Welfare, 2001) has created provision for children with disabilities to

receive education in the regular classroom alongside their peers. The

National Education Policy of 2010 (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2010)

also emphasised the need for inclusive education for children with

disabilities in Bangladesh.

1.2.2 The Existing Provision of Education for Children with

Disabilities in Bangladesh

Evaluating the existing educational options for children with disabilities

in Bangladesh, four different types of educational models can be

12

identified: special education programs; causal integrated education

programs; mainstream education; and home-based education programs.

There is minimal opportunity for persons with disabilities to attend

special schools. Table 1 shows that there are only 13 public institutions

with the capacity for 610 students with all types of disabilities in

Bangladesh (Directorate of Social Services [DSS], n.d), whereas the total

number of school age children with disabilities is estimated at 1.6

million.

Table 1

Public special education facilities for children with disabilities in

Bangladesh

Types of disability Total no. of

schools

Seat/capacity

Hearing Impairment 07 270

Visual Impairment 05 240

Intellectual Disability 01 100

Total 13 610

Additionally, the DSS runs the integrated education programme for the

visually impaired children with a view to provide education alongside

students who do not have visual problems. Under this programme, 64

units have been set up in 64 selected mainstream secondary schools in 64

districts, consisting of 640 seats. However, what is interesting to note is

that all of the schools are located at the divisional or city centres of

Bangladesh and are managed by DSS and not the Ministry of Education

13

(MoE). All teachers and other staff are recruited and trained by the DSS

rather than the MoE. People living in rural areas are unlikely to have

access to these services. These schools also provide vocational training to

help students prepare for and locate work. There are a few NGOs that

provide special education services, but these are highly expensive to

manage. Unfortunately, special education services are found to be

lacking, and this forces parents to enrol their children in a mainstream

school. Research shows that among students with disabilities enrolled in

primary schools, 48% were in formal education, 23% were in integrated

schools, and only15% were in special education (DPE & CSID, 2002).

Besides these models, home-based education is the default option that

depends completely on the provision of services from the parents and

other family members.

Inclusive education is creating new possibilities in education for children

with disabilities not only in Bangladesh, but also all over the world.

Snow (1998) called today‘s world as with vibrant new culture as the

culture of inclusion. According to her views, this new culture values

every human as gifted, whose, presence in the community is something

special, even though the presences of each person are different, with

different potentialities (Snow, 1998). To implement inclusion in a school,

it needs a combined effort in the community, from parents to teachers,

personnel to policymakers and administrators. On the micro level,

14

relationships and functional interaction between students with and

without disabilities is desirable, as the National Poet of Bangladesh, Kazi

Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) invites, ―Come Brother Hindu! Come

Musalman (Muslims)! Come Buddhist! Come Christian! Let us transcend

all barriers, let us forsake forever all smallness, all lies, all selfishness and

let us call brothers as brothers‘ (Poem ‗Manus‘ [trans. as Human]).

1.2.3 Analysing the Context

Kibria (2005) points out that 90% of children with disabilities in

Bangladesh experience disabilities that are mild to moderate in nature,

and could easily benefit from inclusive education. Research shows

inadequate teachers‘ preparation programs act as a barrier to

implementing inclusive education (Ahsan & Burnip, 2007). That is why

many schools are not open to the idea of education for children with

disabilities; and even if a few are normally included they encounter

negative treatment where their peers are not sensitive to disability issues,

and their teachers have no training (CSID, 2002a). An ethnographic

quantitative study of 120 Street Children with Disabilities in Dhaka city

reports that ―most of the children suffer from frustration and have an

inferiority complex because of their limitations as an effect of their

disability. There is an attitude of neglect for their schooling‖ (Anam,

Bari, & Alam, 1999, p.26).

15

Recently secondary education in Bangladesh has been moving towards

the philosophy of full inclusion by the influence of the UNESCO

Declaration on Education For All (UNESCO,1990), the Dakar

Framework (UNESCO,2000) and the Salamanca Declaration on

Inclusive Education (UNESCO,1994), the Child Right Convention

(UNICEF, 1989), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities (UN, 2006), all of which advocate and impose legal as well

as ethical obligations for implementing full inclusion for all children with

disabilities. My interest is to understand how complex or complicated

inclusive practices are in a country like Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh education system has set a goal of education for all by

the year 2015. As a result, inclusive education has been featured as the

means of achieving the goal. Persons with disabilities are doubly

disadvantaged in developing countries: victims of both poverty and

disability (CSID, 2002). In education, people with disabilities tend to

have been excluded from learning institutions (CSID, 2002). To ensure

education for all, this portion of the population needs to be accepted into

the education system. Very little research has been conducted on how to

provide effective education for children with disabilities, but no research

exists yet about inclusive school practices in Bangladesh. How will

mainstream children—and their parents -embrace inclusion in schools?

16

What inclusive practice actually looks like at the secondary level has not

yet been investigated by research.

From the beginning of twenty-first century, Bangladesh has incorporated

inclusive education in primary education to include children with mild to

moderate disabilities. To evaluate the basic education for children

applying ‗The Assessment of Basic Competency (ABC)‘ methodology,

Chowdhury, Nath and Choudhury (2003) report that primary education in

Bangladesh has gained tremendous equity in recent years. Gender

disparity and the urban-rural gap have been eliminated, but disparity is

lying in terms of academic achievement. One possible cause may be the

teaching practices within schools.

The challenges of improving inclusive education practices at secondary

school in Bangladesh are enormous. Characterising secondary level

teaching in Bangladesh, Ruitenberg (2009) identified the tension between

the constraints related to teaching and learning and those related to

contextual and political issues. The teacher‘s safety and security are often

threatened by political pressure, which affect their own practices and

commitment correspondingly. Thornton (2006) reports that a

collaborative culture among teachers has not yet developed within the

secondary schools in Bangladesh. Contextual factors such as the rigid

curriculum, the low ability of many students, and the teachers‘ own

educational background act additionally to hinder a collaborative culture

17

emerging. All of these factors have a de-motivating effect on many

teachers‘ practices. A typical issue portrayed in Ruitenberg‘s study

(2009) was that secondary school teachers in Bangladesh discuss among

themselves the low ability of the students. The tendency here is for

teachers to blame the students or parents for ‗being illiterate‘ rather than

such a result being a prompt for them to examine their own teaching

practice and how they could not respond adequately to the learning

needs for those students. However, it has to be noted that the government

policy clearly indicates that teachers are responsible for low student

achievement. National education policies and the Disability Welfare Act

of 2001 (Ministry of Social Welfare, 2001) created provisions for

children with disabilities to receive education in the same classroom as

their peers who do not have disabilities.

The Bangladesh 1997 Education Policy suggests that the provision for

integrated education along with special education provisions depend on

the needs of the children concerned (MoE, 1997). In contrast, the

National Education policies produced by the Ministry of Education (MoE

[Bangladesh], 2000; 2010) emphasise the establishment of inclusive

education as much as possible. The concept of including children with

special needs into mainstream education classrooms received official

recognition in 2000 (MoE [Bangladesh], 2000). In the 1990s Bangladesh

enacted the ‗Compulsory Primary Education Act‘ to ensure primary

18

schooling for all. However, most children with disabilities were excluded

from taking up this option due to the poor state of the infrastructure of the

schools. For example, physical access was limited (Ahsan & Burnip,

2007). Bangladesh then enacted the Disability Welfare Act in 2001 which

provided legislative support to ensure that access to education for

children with disabilities was adequate. Part D of this Act discusses the

educational rights of people with disabilities and proposed to:

- create opportunities for free education for all children

below 18 years of age with disabilities;

- provide them with educational materials free of cost or at

a low cost;

- create opportunities for the integration of students with

disabilities in regular schools (Ministry of Social Welfare,

2001).

In line with article 17 of the constitution and also with the above

legislation, it becomes the responsibility of the state of Bangladesh to

establish a uniform and universal system of education to ensure that

education fulfils the needs of society and promotes values such as

patriotism and humanism (MoE, 1974). There is also an undeniable urge

to compete in a global world without losing sight of the virtues of

compassion and caring (MoE, 2010).

19

The conceptual barrier makes the inclusive education initiatives

questionable in Bangladesh. Bangladesh remains a land of contradictions

regarding education for people with disabilities. The scopes of special

schooling are limited in the country, and are managed by the Directorate

of Social Services under Ministry of Social Welfare. All of the special

schools are located in the divisional city centres and the rural people are

not able to reach this service. There are a few Non-Governmental

Organisations (NGOs) which provide special education services, but

these are highly expensive to provide. Research shows that among the

primary enrolled children with disabilities, 48% were in formal

education, 23% were in integrated schools, and 15% were in special

education (DPE & CSID, 2002). Conflicting inter-ministerial policies are

also affecting the country‘s inclusive practice. The Ministry of Education

is in favour of inclusion but the controlling ministry, the Ministry of

Social Welfare is still looking for a mixed approach, even though

Bangladesh has ratified the ‗Convention on Rights of Peoples with

Disabilities (CRPD) with its optional protocol (UN, 2006). At a standstill,

education for the children with disabilities in Bangladesh is seen as a

welfare issue controlled by the DSS. There is a little support for the

student in terms of ‗Disability Education Allowances‘ (DSS, 2008), but

no set grant or support for schools like New Zealand‘s Special Education

grant and also no school-based support programme like RTLB,

Counsellors, or speech-language therapy. Article no. 8.1.6 of the

20

National Social Welfare Policy of 2006 of Bangladesh recommends

mixed approaches for special education, and advocates for establishing

new special institutions for the inclusion of people with disabilities

(Ministry of Social Welfare, 2005).

The new challenge of inclusion is to create schools in which our day-to-

day efforts no longer assume that a particular text, activity, or teaching

mode will "work" to support any particular student's learning (Ferguson,

1995). General school facilities do not as adequately cover the needs of

learners with disabilities as special and integrated setups; especially for

children with significant levels of disability. There is no such policy

guideline that addresses the varying needs of disabled children in

mainstream education, which results in the lack of proper care services.

Given that the regular education system is fighting a number of problems,

teachers may think that inclusive initiative may increase these. Gomes

(2009) listed a number of chronic factors affecting the Bangladesh

education sector. These include:

- the poor quality of education policy and content;

- concerns with the relevance of the curriculum;

- the poor quality of teachers;

- a lack of quality teachers‘ training and teaching methods;

- poor school buildings and safety;

21

- accountability issues;

- effective local and national assessment tools;

- inadequate research funds and institutions;

- lack of quality educational leaders;

- lack of partnership with stakeholders.

Inclusive education is facing a great challenge within the Bangladesh

education system. Kibria (2005) identified seven general barriers

towards inclusive education in Bangladesh. These are:

- negative attitude of people;

- invisibility in the community;

- cost;

- physical access;

- class size;

- lack of trained teachers;

- gender discrimination;

- Identification problems.

Technology plays a vital role in inclusion. A study shows that most of the

parents and teachers in Bangladesh were unaware about using technology

(Rahaman, 2008). Ahsan and Burnip (2007) identified that a lack of

resources (such as funding, teaching/educational materials, training

opportunities) is the main barrier towards inclusive education for

22

Bangladesh. This is in spite of the fact that Bangladesh has enacted laws

to safeguard the educational rights and welfare of children with

disabilities, and is really trying to initiate inclusive classrooms in the

regular education system.

On the basis of the above discussion, it could be said that teachers are

very vital to achieving the goal of inclusion for education of persons with

disabilities in the twenty-first century. Mainstream education will open

the doorway to education for a number of children with disabilities, and

at the same time, the special education system will ensure the learning

needs of children with profound disabilities. Moreover, inclusive

education could be treated as social/affective education for all. With the

academic learning, inclusion provides a unique opportunity to instil the

values of humanity to our children (Epstein & Elias, 1996). As a result,

systematic inclusion demands an all out reform within the entire public

education system of Bangladesh, because, ―public education is like a

Web: each strand touches many others, depending upon as well as

providing support for the entire structure‖ (Ferguson, 1995, p.286).

Reforms are needed to avoid the contradiction in the existing policies

related to education and disabilities in Bangladesh.

In this respect, introducing effective inclusive education in secondary

schools demand the systematic investigation of education, especially on

teaching practices. This study will contribute to a better understanding of

23

teachers and their development of inclusive practices. My thesis is on the

current teaching practices at the secondary level within Bangladesh for

students with disabilities that are now at odds with the nation‘s

constitutional intent with respect to equity for all within society. The

study will be helpful to identify gaps between policies, theory and

inclusive practice. Moreover, the study will explore invaluable

information to develop our understanding of inclusive practices in

secondary schools of Bangladesh.

1.3 Conceptual Framework

Theories serve to justify the practice and practice, in turn, informs theory

(Macfarlane, 2007). Usually, a functional theory could enhance a

practitioner‘s ability to work with others and also generate a range of

ethical and educational logical solutions to educational problems

(Macfarlane, 2007). Hence, theory performs as an imperative for

developing a teaching-learning curriculum as well as practice for children

with disabilities. Thomas and Loxley (2001) point out,

...education should be guided more by the truths laid down by the

great educators of yesteryear – Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel,

Montessori – and continued in the twentieth century by the likes

of John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, John Holt and Frank Smith. It is

to their simple truths about teaching, learning and thinking (rather

24

than to the theories and methods of psychologists or grand

theoreticians) that we should look in constructing inclusion. (p.ix)

Many theorists have taken different angles on the conceptualisation of

disability and education issues, but this study is underpinned by the social

constructivist view of disability organised by the works of Lev Vygotsky

(1896 –1934), ―disabilities are constructed on the basis of interpretations

made because of social values and beliefs‖ (Thomas & Loxley, 2001,

p.3).Within this view, inclusive practice enables teachers to pursue

appropriate strategies for learners. The underlying premise is that

teachers are all experts in different ways, and that their different

experiences and understandings are of value.

For having a better understanding on the theoretical base of academic

achievement and disability, we need to identify the epistemologies that

shape practices in, of and around inclusive education for pupil with

disabilities. According to Barr and Smith (2008), we may consider

curriculum as inquiry where learning is a matter of co-construction. This

standpoint of learning and teaching is supported by the right-based model

of disability. Under the schooling theory, pedagogical discourses could

be helpful to understanding the academic issues around teaching pupils

with disabilities. The discourses of inclusion interpret that if appropriate

environment could be provided every child has equal potentialities to

learn. According to Barr and Smith (2008), the right discourse of

25

disability is linked pedagogically with inclusion discourse. It establishes

rights of pupils with disabilities in the society and the classroom.

On the basis of the above theoretical discussion, the following conceptual

framework (fig.1) has been formed to understand inclusive practice,

which is viewed from two levels: the Macro and Micro levels. The Macro

level includes the broader perspective of inclusion practice focusing on

the State position and the teacher training system. On the other hand, the

Micro level concentrates on the school level focusing on classrooms,

teachers and students. For the delimitation in terms of time and scopes,

my research is located within the two components of the Micro level

practice, especially pertaining to quality instruction and teacher values,

attitudes and beliefs within my conceptual framework, even though all

parts of the system are interconnected. For the essence of the research, it

may overlap with other Micro level components as well Macro level

components in some instances, as Van Manen (1990) suggests ‗balancing

the researching context by considering parts and whole‘ (p.31) for a

phenomenological study.

To gain a pragmatic insight of inclusive education practice, we need to

study inclusive values, inclusive policies, collaboration and inclusive

assessment and teaching. According to the Ecological System Theory of

Bronfenbrenner (2005), surrounding is important to understand children‘s

development and education. At the same time, the UNESCO‘s (2001)

26

Macro

Level

Practice

Micro

Level

Practice

Incl

usi

ve e

du

cati

on

pra

ctic

e f

or

child

ren

wit

h d

isab

iliti

es

Broader Perspective

School Perspectives

Inclusive

Values

Policies

Legislation

Teacher

Developmen

t

Curriculum

Teachers’ values & attitudes

Collaboration and partnership

Parental involvement

Interaction with peer & teachers

Quality of instruction

(Classroom Practice)

Support Services

Accessibility

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of inclusive educational practice

nine golden rules of inclusive education have particularly been

considered to prepare the matrix and some related information and issues

are adapted. The nine golden rules consist: including all pupils,

communication, managing classrooms, lesson planning, individual plans,

individual help, assistive aids, managing behaviour and working together.

The study of Kuyini and Desai (2007) in Ghana showed that attitudes

towards inclusion and knowledge of inclusion are directly linked with

effective teaching practices in an inclusive setting. In this connection, the

conceptual framework below (fig.1) was formed.

This model recognises the diversity and considers the adoption of a

constructive approach. If a teacher cannot realise the needs of children,

27

successful inclusion cannot take place. For example, Maddern (2009)

identified the lack of understanding on the needs of children with visual

impairment as one reason for the difficulties of including a student with

visual impairment. Explaining the social model of disability, teachers

need to engage critically with learners with disabilities (Macfarlane,

2007). Inclusion concerns from individual support to school wide support

and also emphasises on community involvement (Lipsky & Gartner,

1999 cited in Macfarlane, 2007). For this reason, selecting appropriate

teaching practices is needed to embrace inclusiveness (De Jong, 2005) as

well as is selecting appropriate cultural contexts. How can the children

with disabilities be included into schools? Or how can schools effectively

manage these pupils? Considering these questions, the research attempts

to come up with a comprehensive analysis of teacher practice. How

inclusive education has been envisaged and called for by teachers, and

how it is experienced and understood by teachers for pupils with

disabilities, will be explained by the research.

1.4 Research Questions

To achieve the said objective, as described earlier, the following research

question has been formulated to investigate inclusive education practice

as a goal of education in Bangladesh. This study intends to find out the

answer of the main research question:

28

How do teachers in secondary schools in Bangladesh understand

inclusion?

Along with supplementary questions:

a) To what extent is current educational practice inclusive within

secondary schools in Bangladesh?

b) What knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of teachers shape or

otherwise of inclusive practices for children with disabilities in

Bangladesh?

In order to study the research question, I formulated the following

framework (fig-2) of the term ―understanding‖ for practice from a series

of discussions with my supervisors.

In the questions, understanding is seen as an inseparable and

interconnected outcome of practice, attitude and beliefs, and knowledge

Practice

Attitudes and

believes

Knowledge

Understanding

of inclusive

practice

Figure 2. The meaning of understanding

29

of teachers. These research questions help me to guide the selection of

research methods and techniques that were thought most appropriate to

provide inside explanations by illuminating the data of the present

research.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The research is significant in many ways. To ensure learning for all

depends on the teachers, who first need to learn from the context, as

Stansell (2007) said, ―in order to effectively advocate for the child who

struggles in the classroom, we must first educate ourselves about this

often overlooked and misunderstood disability that affects a relatively

large portion of the school population‖ (P.7) .

Teachers may face problematic situations in the classroom of a secondary

school. They need to learn about hidden disabilities. This is because

statistics show that about 15 percent of the U.S. population have a

learning disability (Ketter, 2006).Teachers have to ensure progress even

for the learning disabled children. Ketter (2006) defined learning

disability as ―disorders that affect an individual‘s ability to understand or

use spoken or written language, do mathematical calculations, coordinate

movements, or direct attention‖ (p.34). Thus, teachers must be aware of

the different learning disabilities and how they affect a person‘s ability to

30

learn. But, to be able to assist individuals with disabilities with the

learning process, teachers must have their own understanding.

Though teacher education is a Macro level component, it has great

influence on micro level components such as teaching-learning practice.

However, the existing arrangement for teacher education is considered

inadequate in Bangladesh. Without the support from a sound teacher

education, inclusion cannot be successful. The New Education Policy

2009 identified that the system of the existing inadequate teacher

education in Bangladesh is itself a challenge. According to the

commission report,

Existing teacher education is very traditional, in-complete,

certificate based, more focused on theoretical knowledge rather

practical, huge gap between theory and practice, encouraging rote

learning and old paper-pencil test based system. (MoE, 2010,

P.56)

A number of challenges arise from teacher training – how do teachers

serve at secondary school with their prior knowledge? What do they do in

their classroom to manage children‘s learning needs in an inclusive

setting? The study would explore such opportunities to share teachers‘

experiences of inclusive practice.

The role of teachers in student success within an inclusive classroom is

vital. The study investigates the factors contributing toward inclusive

31

success. What comprises student success in inclusive education or

schools? Success has to be defined first in order to understand the

dimension of inclusive education practice. However, success, which is a

culturally relative phenomenon, can be defined as ―mastering a

curriculum and relating cultural heritage‖ (Melnechenko & Horsman,

1998, p.7), whereas the Eurocentric view of students‘ success

concentrates mainly on measuring academic achievement for having a

better job in future (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998).

There are two folds of factors related to students‘ success in all settings

of education, such as outside factors and inside factors (Melnechenko &

Horsman, 1998). The outside factors (outside of school) include

favourable government policies (Cavanagh, 2008), home-school

connection, family support and encouragement (De Jong, 2005; Dorfman

& Fisher, 2002; Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998), supportive peer

interaction (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998), and adequate family

incomes (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998), whereas the inside factors

(within school & classroom) that can contribute to success are

community involvement in the school (Cavanagh, 2008; De Jong, 2005;

Dorfman & Fisher, 2002; Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998), positive

student support system, culturally relevant curriculum (Dorfman &

Fisher, 2002; Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998), accommodation of

32

different learning styles (diversity), and a learning environment that is

responsive to the students.

Literature shows that student identified hard work, intelligence, being

caring, being respectful, having a good job in future, not talking back to

the teacher, and using modest language as the underlying drive for

success (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998). There is a socio-cultural

influence on success, especially the influences of parent, community, and

school that are considered to be enormous (Dorfman & Fisher, 2002).

However, student behaviour has a direct link with their achievement in

schools (De Jong, 2005). As a result teachers‘ have to know about the

context of student behaviour, because students need to be able to deal

with racism and prejudice (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998). Finally, it is

evident from ‗Roosevelt High School’ that strong teaching, challenging

curriculum and family involvement were crucial to students‘ success (see

Dorfman & Fisher, 2002, p.27).

The study will look at the roles and characteristics of respondents as good

teachers. How do their practices affect students‘ success? Research shows

that teachers play a vital role in student success (Cavanagh, 2008, De

Jong, 2005; Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998). Research shows that

students‘ success is more dependent on the interpersonal skills of

teachers, because, only teacher and student together comprise the

community of learners in the classroom (Melnechenko & Horsman,

33

1998). Building healthy and mutual relationships with students

(Cavanagh, 2008; Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998) and with families

(Dorfman & Fisher, 2002) is crucial for teachers. In fact, positive

relationships, particularly between student and teacher are critical for

maximizing appropriate behaviour and achieving learning outcomes (De

Jong, 2005). However, to master the methodology necessary to design

lessons and implement the curriculum teachers must develop

communicative techniques to establish a healthy relationship with

students (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998). For this reason, the selections

of appropriate teaching practices need to embrace inclusiveness (De Jong,

2005) and appropriate cultural context (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998).

In an inclusive setting, the involvement of family and parents is essential.

Teachers should have a connection with the family. This connection

would help him or her to reshape practices. Research has established a

strong positive correlation between family involvement and students‘

academic achievement (Dorfman & Fisher, 2002; Melnechenko &

Horsman, 1998). The teachers‘ relationship will help the students to get

better interventions. However, several researches define family

involvement in different ways. Researchers typically agree that ―family

involvement minimally includes parental engagement in learning

activities at home, supervision of schools works, and initiating interaction

with teachers and schools‖ (Dorfman & Fisher, 2002, p.10). Support and

34

encouragement in the form of affection and inspiration from family to

student is important for success (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998). A

healthy home-school connection (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998) is

significant for having a cultural bonding (Cavanagh, 2008) in school.

Inclusive classroom practice can also be influenced by policy options for

students‘ success. Education determines the quality of individual life,

including peoples with disabilities and the future of a society as a whole.

Effective education is directly linked to the building of a more dynamic

economy, an efficient system of governance and democracy and an

enlightened society (MoE, 2010). From here, people with disabilities are

able to get benefits. Thus, the policy needs to reflect the inspiration of the

consumers (Cavanagh, 2008). According to Cavanagh (2008), the task of

education is to transmit ideas and values than facts. As a result, policy

needs to be formulated on the basis of ‗student-centred philosophy’ (De

Jong, 2005, p.358), which recognises the student at the centre of the

education process. That is why teachers need to follow student-centric

approaches of teaching for students with disabilities. Teachers need to

use evidence based practice to get maximum benefits for their pupils

(Hornby, 1999; Mitchell, 2004), because effective pedagogy is central to

the success of the student in school (De Jong, 2005).

Teaching children with disabilities in mainstream classroom is a reality.

UNESCO (2008) policy points out that segregating children is the result

35

of fear and ignorance, perpetuating cycles of prejudice within a

community. All children need such education to help them to develop

relationships and prepare them for the future (Centre for Studies on

Inclusive Education [CSIE], 2008). Within this ideological framework,

inclusive education has the potential to reduce the previous educational

disadvantages for children with disabilities (CSIE, 2008).

The study will explore the teachers‘ initiatives in terms of empowering

the classroom. According to Chandler (1999), ―by empowering our

teachers, we empower ourselves‖ (p118). Effective teaching methods

could have application in this regard. Stone (1995) identified that

teachers gain the power to choose curriculum, create policy and make

decisions concerning the school, if they are empowered. It is true that

professional development courses allow teachers to recognise children

who have problems (Pearn, 2011). Empirical evidence suggests that

empowering promotes trust, collaborative learning and tolerance for

ambuiguity (Brunson & Vogt, 1996). In the case of inclusive education,

teachers‘ practice is changed with the influence of empowerment

philosophy. The process model of classroom empowerment (Brunson &

Vogt, 1996; Vogt & Murrell, 1990) recognises empowerment as

―synergistic and process-oriented‘ (Brunson & Vogt, p.74). Trust,

communication and participation are the heart of classroom teaching

according to the ‗notion of congruency‘ (p.76) which grows students‘

36

willingness to participate in constructive ways to learn. In case of

children with disabilities, it brings about confidence, because

empowerment enhances the individual‘s ownership. In fact,

empowerment of the classroom enables people to produce their best

product because it promotes personal responsibility and accountability

for desired outcomes.

Deemer (2004) showed that teacher‘ beliefs about teaching and learning

influence their instructional practices. The teacher‘s role to ensure

students with disabilities to participate actively in the classroom is

important for true inclusion. Teachers have a critical role in creating

classroom environments that encourage students to become active, self-

motivated learners (Deemer, 2004).

The beginning of a new millennium has seen many educators proclaim

that the world has entered a new educational era. Inclusive education

practice within school is vital to examine. Describing twenty-first century

schools, Anne Shaw, the director of the twenty-first Century Education,

comments that though we are technically in the twenty-first century, the

schools are still not able to reach to the desired dimension yet. The main

challenge remaining for the educators is to reinManent schools for the

twenty-first century, for the sake of children, students and the welfare of

the world. According to Shaw, ―it [twenty-first century school] is bold, it

breaks the mould. It is flexible, creative, challenging and complex‖

37

(2009, p.11). Education in the new millennium has been ushered in

within a dramatic technological revolution. In the twenty-first century,

humans are now living in an increasingly diverse, globalised, complex

and media-saturated society (Shaw, 2009).That is why the school also

needs to be adjusted with the system of twenty-first century. The twenty-

first century education is influenced by a new liberal policy that is

predominately technology-based and directed towards societal needs.

Inclusive schooling is a desirable phenomenon in this policy. The

worldwide technological revolution (Janice & Julie, 2009) is facilitating

inclusion for the children with disabilities in the mainstream education

system. Within the movements of the twenty-first century, the study

would also be able to identify the hidden transcript (Scott, 1997) of

inclusive education in Bangladesh. It is perhaps true that the teachers of

Bangladesh are not able to identify the real needs of their pupils, as

Mahatma Gandhi said, ―We are not aware of our real needs, and most of

us improperly multiply our wants and thus unconsciously make thieves of

ourselves‖ (Gandhi, 1997). From this perspective, the study would be

significant to enable the teachers to know about their real needs in the

inclusive setting.

38

Chapter 2

Methodology

2.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the methodological aspects of the current research.

The chapter begins with a description of methodological differences and

presents arguments for the methodological decisions made in the

development of this study. In addition, this chapter includes information

on the research design, scope of the study, selection of the participants,

gaining access to the field, methods for data collection, organising,

analysing and interpreting of data, aspects of validity, reliability, rigour

and trustworthiness, and data triangulation. The chapter also includes

consideration of the ethical issues involved in the study.

2.2 Methodological Decisions

We live in narrative‘s moment. The linguistic and textual basis of

knowledge about society is now privileged. Everything we study

is contained within a storied, or narrative, representation. The self

itself is a narrative production. There is no dualism between self

and society. (Lincoln & Denzin, 2003, p. 240)

Social research involves engagement with the world to find out the

answers to the questions: ―What is happening? Why is this happening?

39

How does this affect people?‖ (Hall & Hall, 1996, p.11). Various

methodologies are used to make connections with the world in order to

find answers to complex questions. Within research studies investigating

similar phenomena, different researchers may look at different things

from different perspectives using different methodologies. Therefore,

researchers need to be acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of

different methodologies and understand which approach might be best

suited for their needs.

Different methodologies result in problems being interpreted in different

ways within their underpinning philosophical and theoretical frameworks

(Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). According to

Hara (1995), when researchers intend to observe details from their own

viewpoints and look for depth and meaning, they use qualitative

approaches to gain an in-depth understanding of the problem. Five

general features of qualitative research identified by Bogdan and Taylor

(1988) are: naturalistic, descriptive data, concern with process, inductive

reasoning, and meaning. Thus, qualitative research methods emphasise

why and how rather than just what, where, when of decision making. In

fact, this study is concerned with developing meaning for depth of

understanding of inclusive education practices within secondary schools

in Bangladesh.

40

Selecting a qualitative methodological approach is aligned with my

epistemological stance, which has developed from an interpretivist

philosophy, ―knowledge of the world is intentionally constituted through

a person‘s lived experience‖ (Weber, 2004, p.IV). Exploring existing

practice, the actual reasons behind such practice and what constructed the

situation with children with disabilities in inclusive practice, the study

takes an interpretive stance through semi-structured interviews and

observations. It was determined that a phenomenological approach would

best fit with my research questions. Phenomenological research facilitates

the study of experiences from the individual‘s perspectives. According to

Lester (1999), phenomenological approaches provide deep information

and explain human perceptions through qualitative methods.

My current study is about teachers‘ perceptions and perspectives. The

goal of the phenomenological research is to clarify the specific actions, or

explore the phenomena through ―how they are perceived by the actors in

a situation‖ (Lester, 1999, p.1). According to Vehmas (2010), a

phenomenological approach is needed because:

Interaction between an individual and his or her environment is

fundamentally a social phenomenon which implies that problems

in that interaction cannot be understood simply in terms of an

individual‘s characteristics but, rather, in terms of social

arrangements. Problems in academic proficiency or behaviour in

41

general cannot be reduced to individuals – society, and its

institutions (e.g. school), are partly to blame as well. (p.87)

It is evident from previous qualitative studies that the phenomenological

approach of investigation is effective to study similar problems in a

different context. For example, Flem, Moen and Gudmundsdottir (2004)

conducted their phenomenological study to understand successful

inclusive practice of a long-serving practitioner teacher using

observation, video recording, and interviews within a single case study

design. What the teacher did in practice in order to be successful and

foster the children‘s best development was the main theme of their

research. As the goal of my research is similar but in a different context, I

have chosen to undertake the research within the framework of a

phenomenological approach.

2.3 Research Design

The current study utilised elements of a mixed method approach within a

phenomenological research framework. This ‗within-stage-mixed model

design’ for the study enables the parallel use of both quantitative and

qualitative research methodologies throughout various stages (Broussard,

2006; Lamm-Hanel & Hoppe-Graff, 2006). The current study utilised a

questionnaire that included a summated rating scale (quantitative data

42

collection) and an interview based on open ended questions (qualitative

data collection) (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004).

Within the paradigm‘s philosophical standpoint, this design allows

researchers to mix as well as to put equal emphasis on qualitative and

quantitative traditions for taking methodological decision using a

‗compatibility thesis‘ that supports ―the five Cs of method use‖ (Yanchar

& Williams, 2006, p.8), namely contextual sensitivity, creativity

conceptual awareness, coherence, and critical reflection. Mixing some

quantitative data does not necessarily mean a mixed methods design

(Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Here quantitative and qualitative

methods are ―complementary‖ (Hall & Hall.1996, p.45), not an

integration of methods. The main reason behind introducing a

quantitative questionnaire into my research was ―to explore in more

depth issues thrown up by such a survey‖ (p.45). It helped me to gain a

better understanding of the phenomenon in terms of the attitude of the

teachers and that would back the qualitative data. However, the world of

educational research today is becoming ―increasingly interdisciplinary,

complex, and dynamic‖ (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p.15),

demanding complementing one method with another. According to the

research design, to portray the teachers understanding, challenges and

potentialities towards the phenomenon, the following methodological

framework (figure 3) for collecting data was introduced:

43

Interview with Teachers

•semi structured

•six teachers who are teaching PWDs

Participants Observation

•overt observation

•each participant’s class on two occasions

Questionnaire Consisting Attitites &

Beliefs

•a questionnaire consisting 07 points attitude scales.

•mixed-ended questions

•six teachers before final interview

Figure 3. Methodological framework (at a glance).

Note. PWDs denotes Pupils with Disabilities

Particip

ants w

ill be selected

pu

rposefu

lly

Van Kaam’s Method (1959; 1966), cited in of analysis of

phenomenological data Modified by Moustakas (1994)

Interview-2(teachers)

Interview-1(teachers) Observation-1

Observation-2

Organising, Analysing and Interpreting of Data

Triangulation

Teachers‘ attitude and

beliefs regarding the

phenomenon; evaluating

their practice

To support my interview data,

understand the complexity of the

phenomenon as well as the context,

relating the participant experiences

with the phenomenon

Teachers‘ Theoretical

understanding and lived

experiences regarding the

phenomenon

Seven Steps.

+

Scale Analysis

To verify or

validate data, as a

way of checking out

gleaned for ensuring

rigour and

trustworthiness

44

2.4 Methods for Data Collection

According to the phenomenological research design, interviews are the

predominant method of data collection. I also undertook participant

observations and distributed a questionnaire for collecting data.

2.4.1 Interview

According to Thompson (2009), ―interviews are the central element of

the data collection process in phenomenological research‖ (p.797).

Moreover, an interview is the meaning making process of knowing other

experiences (Seidman, 2006). Thus, it was felt that interviews would

provide me with the best means to extract information from the

participants (teachers) to understand their views and experiences, because

―in an interview situation it is possible for an investigator to obtain in-

depth information by probing‖ (Kumar, 2005, p.131). Hence,

interviewing is the preferred method of data collection in a situation

where in-depth information is required. According to the inclusive

education practice framework (see figure 1), interviewing is the most

relevant research method to explore in-depth information regarding the

phenomenon.

I interviewed six teachers twice each in order to obtain information.

According to Moustakas (1994), ―phenomenological interview involves

an informal, interactive process and utilises open-ended comments and

45

questions‖ (p.114). To support the research, a guideline comprising a

series of questions/problems for exploring the participant‘s experience of

the phenomenon was developed. In the interview setting, I created a

friendly atmosphere. For that reason, I sent the interview guidelines one

week before the interview date. In order to obtain appropriate

information about the phenomenon, I chose to carry out semi-structured

interviews, because, ―in-depth interviews use a less-structured approach

which is sometimes referred to as semi-standardised or semi-structured‖

(Hall & Hall, 1996, p.157), where an interviewee could express more

freely their opinions.

Interview 1(see appendix 1) was designed to be an introduction on the

basic values and beliefs of the participants. This led to a foundation for

the first observation. Interview 2 (see appendix 4) was designed to gain

an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon with a predefined

guideline. The two interviews with the same participants would create the

chance of negotiation regarding the phenomenon, as ―the interview is a

negotiated text‖ (Lincoln & Denzin, 2003, p.239).

2.4.2 Interview Schedules

The interview was conducted following pre-developed guidelines (see the

appendices 1 and 4). Though phenomenological interviews were

employed, pre-defined guidelines were used both for the Interviews 1 and

2. The guideline provided an appropriate framework from which to work.

46

The first guideline was more focused on the understanding of the

participants towards inclusive education classroom practice. Interview 1

was important to build good rapport with the participants for the rest of

the research work. The guideline for Interview 1 was divided into three

sections. Section One was the introductory part, that included background

information of the participants such as name, designation, gender, highest

level of education, information on training received, professional

experience, teachers‘ interactions with people with disabilities at an

individual level, teaching experience with students with disabilities, level

of confidence in teaching students with disabilities and finally

understanding of the Disability Welfare Act [BD] of 2001.

Section Two focussed on participants‘ classroom experience with

children with disabilities of their classes. This section incorporated the

demography of disabled children in the class, history of their educational

placement and enrolment in their school. Respondents were also asked to

critically describe the academic conditions (progress, interest, interaction,

difficulties, and acceptance) for the children with disabilities. Finally,

teachers were asked to share their ideas on the barriers experienced by

students with disabilities.

The final section of the Interview 1 guidelines contained more open-

ended questions related to the main phenomenon of inclusive education

practice. It contained four general questions on their thoughts about

47

inclusive education, their understanding and views on inclusive

education, their strategies for putting inclusion into practice, and finally

about the effectiveness of inclusive education for all students.

The interview schedule also included a second interview (Interview 2)

with the participants. A separate guideline was prepared for this

interview, being more complex and containing more open-ended

questions. The guideline focused on children with disabilities in the

classroom, academic activities, teaching-learning strategies and a few

general areas of inclusive education practice. The interview started by

describing a typical day with children with disabilities in the classroom.

The Interview 2 guideline was divided into three sections.

Section One contains the history of enrolling students with disabilities,

how they were included in the class, first feelings of the respondent in

finding disabled students in their class, problems experienced due to

students with disabilities, quality of life, teaching and learning activities,

challenges to manage children with disabilities in the class, mechanisms

for classroom problem-solving, support mechanism, peer interaction,

parents‘ involvement, specialised services, such as occupational therapy,

physical therapy, counselling, hearing services, speech therapy, crisis

management, mobility services or vision services for students with

disabilities, and about aids and appliance including lessons in Braille,

sign language, drawing or use of audio-tapes.

48

Section Two of the guideline contained information related to ‗academic

activities‘. This section includes teachers‘ effort for the pupils with

disabilities including extra tutorial support, dealing with own teachers‘

time, teaching strategies, ability and support for children with disabilities,

academic progress and difficulties /academic achievement of children

with disabilities in comparison to children without disabilities, and

aspects of classroom management.

Using the final section of the guideline participants were asked to focus

on the mechanisms and strategies which have proven effective in making

the inclusive practice initiatives successful. Participants were also asked

to identify the factors which contributed to success, the areas of concerns

and constraints, the issues and opportunities that needed to be addressed

for successful mainstreaming of children with disabilities,

recommendations based on the lessons learned, and the ideal role of a

classroom teacher for teaching in an inclusive environment.

For guidance, some prompts were introduced to keep respondents on

track such as ‗I am not clear about the...‘, ‗What do you mean...‘, ‗Tell

me more...‘, ‗Did I get you correctly?‘, ‗Can you give me another

example?‘ ‗How?‘,‘ Why?‘, and ‗ Really?‘

49

2.4.3 Participant Observation

To support my interview data, I carried out observations of teaching and

learning activities of the selected participants (as per figure 3). I observed

each participant‘s class on two occasions (with a maximum of seven to

fourteen days interval). Consequently, the participant observation helped

me to understand the complexity of the phenomenon as well as the

context. I favoured observation because it enables the researcher to

collect data through direct experience and also to understand and interpret

the settings, the context and the participants‘ experiences (Bogdan &

Taylor, 1998; Moustakas, 1994). The obvious advantage of participant

observation is that it provides firsthand reports of events and actions

which give us direct knowledge of a subject (Burgess, 1982). It is also

helpful for the researcher to be open to uncover and infer the significance

for answering any research question.

In line with phenomenological research design, all observations were

transcribed while keeping in mind the research objectives. In this case, a

semi-structured observation schedule (see appendix 2) was developed

based on the work of Mitchell (2008). This schedule reflects attitudes

towards evidence-based practice in inclusive settings, so that participants

can clarify their practice in the following interview. Therefore,

―observation is a purposeful, systematic and selective way of watching

and listening to an interaction or phenomenon as it takes place‖ (Kumar,

2005, p.119).

50

Narrative methods of recording observations were also considered. ―In

this forms of recording the researcher records a description of the

interaction in his/her own words‖ (Kumar, 2005, p.121). I used an audio

recording device to record all conversations during the observation time.

I took brief notes while I was observing the interactions and soon after

made detailed narrative note. Then, I started listening to the audio

recording and checked the detailed narratives. On the basis of these

participant observations, I prepared 12 sets of field notes.

I took appropriate measures to reduce or minimise observer bias and the

―Hawthorne Effect‖ (Kumar, 2005) in my observations to ensure

trustworthiness. To minimise the risk of the Hawthorne Effect, two

separate observations were made of the same classroom. Kumar defined

the Hawthorne effect as

When individuals or groups become aware that they are being

observed, they may change their behaviour … when a change in

the behaviour of persons or groups is attributed to their being

observed it is known as the Hawthorne effect. (Kumar, 2005,

p.120)

51

2.4.4 Observation Schedules

For carrying out participant observations, one observation schedule with

the support of two checklists was introduced. The main schedule

contained demographic information of the classroom, seating

arrangement, and details incidents occurred during the class. A guideline

was used for observing teaching-learning activities. Essential skills for

teachers‘ activities were observed. The ‗Guideline for observing teaching

learning activities‘ consists of 11 criteria, which are: professional skills

and attitude, planning, content knowledge, communication, group

management, methods and classroom management, engagement,

questioning, teaching aids, relationship and evaluation.

To evaluate teachers‘ practice a pre-developed four-point rated checklist

was used. The checklist is called the ‗Checklist for Evaluating Strategies

for Enhancing Learning‘, which looks for 22 different evidence based

practices (classroom teaching strategies) that works in an inclusive

classroom. The observations considered to what degree the teachers were

employing specific strategies in the classroom within the observation

period. The strategies include peer tutoring, reviews and practices,

formative assessment, providing feedback, cognitive strategy instruction,

formative assessment, self-regulated learning, memory strategies,

reciprocal teaching, behavioural approaches, social skills instruction,

classroom climate, active learning time, curriculum adapting, assessment

52

methods, information and communication technology, collaborative

teaching, parents‘ involvement, phonological processing, physical

environment, functional behavioural assessment, and optional success.

2.4.5 Questionnaire

The questionnaire (see appendix 3) used in this research was developed

to investigate teachers‘ practices, attitudes and concerns about inclusive

education. The questionnaire consisted of two scales. The first scale was

a four-point self-rating scale focused on classroom practice. The other

scale was a seven-point Likert scale for measuring/judging attitudes

along with some open-ended and specific questions, which had been

earlier piloted and developed for this study.

The questionnaire provided the opportunity to gather information to

support to the understanding of teachers‘ values and attitudes. The

questionnaire was developed by modifying the Sentiments, Attitudes and

Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale‘ (SACIE) (Loreman, Earle,

Sharma, & Forlin, 2007) and the Concerns about Inclusive Education

Scale [CIES] (Sharma & Desai, 2002). In fact, this quantitative form of

data may contribute to an understanding of teachers‘ attitudes and beliefs

towards the central phenomenon of inclusive education practices, as

Kumar (2005) states,

53

Attitudinal scales measure the intensity of respondents‘ attitudes

towards the various aspects of a situation or issue and provide

techniques to combine the attitudes towards different aspects into

one overall indicator. This reduces the risk of an expression of

opinion by respondents being influenced by their opinion on only

one or two aspects of that situation or issue. (p.145)

On the other hand, the other significant scale is on classroom teaching-

learning practice, which allows the researcher to come to a logical

conclusion regarding the central phenomenon. This scale is based on

Mitchell‘s (2008) work, which creates an opportunity for the participants

to be able to rate themselves about their strategies and practices for

enhancing pupils‘ learning. This was done on a four-point Likert scale,

which was implemented as a bi-directional checklist, containing both

positive and negative statements. For example, for any items/statement, if

a respondent ticks ‗very often‘, she/he is assumed to have a more (the

most) positive on this practice than a person who ticks ‗rarely/never‘.

Hence, the person is Given the highest score, 4. In summary, this scale

supported the interview process to explore in depth information regarding

practices.

54

2.4.6 Descriptions of the Scales

A 16-item attitude scale was used to compile information on the nature of

teachers‘ attitudes and support of inclusion within the classroom. All

items were rated on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from ‗strongly

agree‘ (7) to ‗strongly disagree‘ (1). The scale is called the ‗Attitudes

Toward Inclusive Education Scale‘. The items include teachers‘ attitude

towards enrolling and engaging students with disabilities in the

mainstream. The scale includes teachers‘ attitude towards students with

two years‘ academic achievement and below, students with physically

aggressive behaviour, students with severe physical disability, students

with withdrawn behaviour, students with one year‘s academic

achievement and below, students with severe speech difficulties, students

with severe visual impairment, and students with severe hearing

impairment.

The second scale was the self-rating of teachers‘ own strategies and

practices. Participants rated their strategies and practices on the four

point scale. The rated data was verified with the interview and

observation data. The scale originated from Mitchell‘s works on

evidence-based practice. On a number of evidence-based strategies, the

rating scale used a four-point Likert scale ranging from ‗Very often‘ (4)

to ‗rarely/never‘ (1). Overall, 22 items were used for the scale;

furthermore an additional item was added for the respondents to list their

55

own strategies. All items in this scale were modified and prefaced with

the heading ‗in this school‘. The items included self-rating on using

mixed ability co-operative group teaching, peer tutoring, reviewing and

practicing the key ideas of previous lessons, evaluating pupils‘ progress

during lessons and adjusting of teaching as a result, feedback to all

pupils, teaching pupils cognitive strategies; i.e. problem solving

strategies, encouraging pupils‘ to set goals and to evaluate their own

progress in achieving them, teaching a range of memory strategies,

assisting pupils to improve their reading comprehension by predicting,

questioning and summarizing texts, using behavioural approaches,

teaching appropriate social skills, creating a classroom climate that is

safe, predictable and motivating, ensuring pupils have adequate time for

learning, adapting the curriculum to suit the needs of all pupils, adapting

assessment methods to suit the needs of all pupils, using available

information and communication technology, including assistive

technology for pupils with disabilities, co-operating with other

professionals and teachers, involving parents in their children‘s

programme, teaching phonological processing, ensuring classroom

environment (e.g., lighting, ventilation, sound) is optimal for learning,

managing pupils‘ undesirable social behaviours, and helping pupils

achieve a 90 percent or better success rate on critical tasks.

56

2.5 Participants: Selecting and Gaining Access

This study consists of participant interviews and observations.

Theoretically, the participant selection technique used was the snowball

sampling technique. ―Snowball sampling is the process of selecting a

sample using networks‖ (Kumar, 2005, p.179). Being a teacher educator,

I had connections with a numbers of classroom teachers, from whom I

obtained the needed information.

I imposed some criteria for selecting the schools. Six schools were

purposefully selected. The schools met criteria such as they must have to

at least three to four children with documented disabilities in each

targeted class enrolled, as Hall and Hall (1996) suggest to select

participants on the basis of a preset criterion. Consequently, this posed a

challenge when trying to find participants, as there is a natural tendency

for parents in Bangladesh to hide their disabled children. For example, in

one school, I found a girl with severe intellectual difficulties, and this

was also verified by teachers of the school. However, the parents of that

child were firmly against the labelling of their child as being disabled.

To reduce conceptual discontinuity regarding the phenomena, class

[grade] VI was decided as the target grade. The students in class VI have

just entered secondary school after completing their primary education

and are typically aged from 11 to 13 years. According to the central

prescribed class routine, every day consists of seven periods on seven

different subjects taught by different educators. Bangla is the most

57

common subject according to the class routine. The Bangla class of grade

six in the target secondary schools were selected as the participants for

the classroom observations. Moreover, the teachers who taught Bangla

became study participants. This subject and grade selection helps to

reduce any hollow effect. Various variables like age, teaching practice,

were also controlled.

It was challenging to find schools that satisfied the study criteria. I visited

70 schools around the country and also met more than a hundred assistant

teachers, head teachers and School Managing Committee (SMC)

members in different training programmes under different projects. In

this case snowball sampling was utilised as a non-random sampling

technique and was appropriate for the research,

When it is impossible to identify beforehand all those who might

fall into your category of interest. Instead, you start with one or

two informants, and get them to refer you on to others whom they

think you should talk to as well. Like rolling a snowball, the

sample gets bigger the more interviewing you do. (Hall & Hall,

1996, p.113)

Six classroom teachers from six different secondary schools were

selected. The participants comprised of three male teachers and three

female teachers. Participants‘ teaching experience varied from six to 20

years. All participants voluntarily participated in the research. The

participants‘ age range was between 30 to 50 years. No participants

58

reported experiencing any disabilities. All had experienced a minimal

orientation on inclusive education. Only four participants had taught

students with disabilities previously.

Gaining access to the field is very important for a research study, and this

was especially true for the current study. The first approach made for this

study was to the central education administrative authority called the

Director General (DG) of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

(DSHE), Ministry of Education of Bangladesh. Subsequently, I

approached the schools and finally made personal contact with the

prospective participants. In line with Hall & Hall (1996), I did not

consider my research as just a descriptive ‗fact-gathering‘ (Hall & Hall,

1996, p.30) exercise, but also as a process in gaining an understanding of

the social situation of inclusive practice. Potential participants were

provided with study information and signed consent forms to participate.

No teacher had any objections to participation although some did request

that the anonymity of their participation be preserved. Formal permission

was obtained from the DSHE (see appendix 10), school authority (see

appendix 8) and signed consent from the participant teachers (see

appendix 6) before commencing data collection.

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2.6 Scope of the Study

This research was limited to six teachers, who agreed to participate in the

research from a specific grade level where children with disabilities were

studying. A total of 12 interviews (two for each participant) of six

teachers from six different mainstream secondary schools in Bangladesh

and 12 observations (two of each participant) of six separate classes of

those six teachers were conducted. The researcher focussed on the entry

grade level of secondary schooling (Class Six). Participant observations

were limited to specific subjects‘ (Bangla) teaching and learning

activities in order to understand the central phenomenon.

2.7 Organising, Analysing and Interpreting Data

In line with the research questions and research design, both inductive

and deductive reasoning were applied to the data analysis and

interpretation process. Data was organised and analysed through the

modified method of analysis developed by Moustakas (1994) by the

pragmatic modification of Van Kaam‘s method (1959, 1966, cited in

Moustakas, 1994) of analysis of phenomenological data. The complete

transcriptions of each interview and observation were used. Interviews

were transcribed verbatim. Consisting of rich narratives, the findings

related back to the research questions with reference to relevant previous

research. Key sub-headings under emerging themes were used to

60

organise the findings. The themes further explained my theoretical

framework as described earlier, and were supported by quantitative data.

The following steps were followed to analyse the qualitative data:

Step-1 Horizonalisation: listing and preliminary grouping

The interview was undertaken in Bangla; the national language of

Bangladesh. At the beginning, all the interviews were preliminary

transcribed in Bangla, and later translated into English by the researcher.

A fluent English-speaking Bangladeshi teacher also reviewed the

translations to confirm accuracy and consistency of terminology. Then,

the transcribed descriptions were visited and re-visited several times.

Every expression relevant to the experiences was listed. Representation

of the teachers‘ experience of disability from the interviews could be an

example of horizonalisation. It ensured trustworthiness in terms of being

receptive to every statement or activity of the participants.

Step-2 Reduction and elimination

In order to determine the ‗invariant constituents‘ (Moustakas 1994,

p.120) each expression was tested for two requirements:

(a) Does it contain a moment of the experience that is a necessary

and sufficient constituent to understand it?

(b) Is it possible to abstract and label it? (Moustakas 1994, p.121)

61

If the expression met the above requirements, it was accepted as a

horizon of experience. If the expression did not meet the above two

requirements, it was eliminated. In this respect, the data (expressions)

were examined carefully to identify the overlapping, repetitive, and

vague expressions to be removed. Afterwards the expressions were

presented in ‗more exact descriptive terms‘ (p.121). After removing the

expression, the remaining horizons constituted the ‗invariant constituents

of experience.‘

Step-3 Clustering and thematic categorisation of the invariant

constituents

This stage involved the development of clusters of the relevant invariant

constituents of the experiences under a thematic level, which were

considered the core themes of the participants‘ experiences. Some

examples were enrolment and assessment, lesson planning and teaching

practice, teachers‘ consciousness and expectations, hidden disability, and

barriers.

Step-4 Final identification of the invariant constituents and themes by

application

After labelling each of the themes, the invariant constituents were

verified and their complementary themes on the basis of complete

records of the research participants. In this case, I considered the

following three criterions, as suggested by Moustakas (1994),

62

(1) Are they expressed explicitly in the complete transcription?;

(2) Are they compatible if not explicitly expressed?;

(3) If they are not explicit or compatible, they are not relevant

and should be deleted. (p.121)

Step-5 Forming individual textural descriptions

Individual textural descriptions were formed for each participant using

the relevant, valid invariant constituents and themes. Verbatim examples

were included from the transcription and field notes for each individual

textural description. For example, ―teaching of teacher is aiming towards

the examination‖.

Step-6 Constructing individual structural descriptions

At this stage, I prepared an individual structural description of the

experience for each participant on the basis of their individual textural

description and imaginative narration.

Step-7 Constructing textural structural descriptions

At this penultimate stage I synthesised by constructing a textural-

structural description of the meaning and essence of the experiences for

each participants, which incorporated invariant constituents and themes.

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Finally, from the individual textural structural descriptions, I developed a

composite description of the meanings and essence of the experience,

representing the group as a whole.

The individual textural structural descriptions were focused on the

characteristics of the phenomenon. For this reason, quantitative methods

of analysis with various statistical strategies were considered for

supporting the individual textural structural descriptions. Hence, all

variables were initially screened for accuracy and normality through

computing descriptive statistics for each test variable. Frequency

distributions with histograms and descriptive statistics (mean or median,

standard deviation) were used to identify any characteristics of shape or

distribution that might affect the analysis. On the other hand all variables

were within normal limits, which is why parametric procedures were

carried out for statistical analyses. The median is the appropriate average

for ordinal scales (Hall & Hall, 1996, p.140) that allows us to explore the

exact reason behind the construction of teachers‘ understanding of the

phenomenon. This analysis supports ‗the composite description‘ that

came from the individual textural structural descriptions.

2.8 Analysis of Observation Data

All the participant observations were made in the classroom setting.

Though participant observation was conducted to support the interview

data, six analytical memos were prepared from 12 sets of field notes

focusing on inclusive education practice in mainstream settings. As a

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part of the study, the analytical memo was based on the

phenomenological approach of using field notes based on participant

observations. The analytic memo concentrates on a micro-level inclusive

framework, focusing on teachers experiences of ‗inclusive education

practice‘. The qualitative analysis in the analytical memo explores

different issues relating to the original research question from the point of

view of practicing teachers of secondary schools. In this way, the voice

of the teacher is brought forward.

I read all field notes several times. After reading the field notes, I came

up with an initial set of coding categories, and then applied these

categories to the field notes in order to code the data. Data were then

grouped together according to the codes. The coding reflected six themes

that emerged from the interviews.

2.9 Validity, Reliability, Rigour and Trustworthiness

The above analysis method was selected and followed in order to ensure

trustworthiness of the data and analysis. For interpretivist approaches, the

notion of trustworthiness is an indicator of 'rigour' (Lincoln & Guba,

1989). Accoring to Lincoln and Guba (1989), rigour is associated with

considerations of trustworthiness of the qualitative research. Several

reports have identified four aspects of trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba,

1989; 1985). These are credibility, transferability, dependability and

conformability. The current research embraces all of these of aspects.

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Credibility is addressed by comprehensive and well-linked accounts

where areas of uncertainty are identified. For ensuring trustworthiness of

the data, copies of the textural-structural descriptions were sent to the

participants for ―member-checking‖. They were requested to examine the

transcribed descriptions carefully and encouraged to search for any

inconsistencies. I also asked them to make additions and necessary

corrections. The findings were also reviewed in the research process at

the end of data collection. In transforming the textural-structural

descriptions from Bangla to English, they were validated by a bilingual

teacher from Bangladesh for accuracy and exact transformation.

2.10 Triangulation

In the field of social research, most of the data obtained were subjective

or qualitative in nature (Bogdan & Beklein, 2007). To verify or validate

such data, triangulation is thought of as a way of checking out gleaned

information from the field (Bogdan & Taylor, 1998), ―using different

research methods or sources of data to examine the same problem‖ (Hall

& Hall, 1996, p.44). In this research, triangulation was introduced in

order to be assured that the acquired information was valid and accurate.

Interview 1 data was verified with observation 1 and participant

observation 2 data was cross-checked with interview data as per figure 3.

In addition, teachers‘ interview data was compared and contrasted with

the attitude scale and rating data. The rationale for this approach was to

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increase the validity of any conclusions reached during the study (Cohen

& Manion, 1994).

2.11 Ethical Issues

Ethical issues were considered in the whole research process, from design

to report, and this study adheres to the guidelines of the Educational

Research Human Ethics Committee (ERHEC) of the University of

Canterbury. The project got ethical approval from the ERHIC as on 13th

October 2010 [ERHIC letter ref: 2010/56/ERHIC] (see appendix 9).

Informed consent (Elense & Peshkin, 1993; Tolich & Davidson, 1999)

was obtained before interviewing and observing (as per appendices 6 &

8). Anonymity, confidentiality and voluntary participants for interviews

were adhered to. For the questionnaire, confidentiality and voluntary

participants were ensured. For this purpose, participant names were

linked to an identity code and original participant names were stored

securely (e.g., in a spreadsheet with password protection and stored in a

locked filing cabinet). Strategies of using pseudonyms were undertaken

in writing up of the findings and the production of the final report.

An information letter was prepared covering all of the ethical guide lines

of ERHEC of the University of Canterbury (ERHEC, 2009). The

participants were informed of the possible use of findings. Participation

in the study was voluntary. Moreover the information letter clearly

indicated the data treatment procedures. In this way, the participants‘

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safety was ensured. Thus, the statements in the letters (see appendices 5

& 7) enabled the potential participants to decide whether or not to

participate in the research. Confidentiality was ensured through

procedures of handling data. This is why transcribed interviews were

shared with the interviewees concerned.

There were some potential risk factors in this research. These involved

the issue of power and authority. As a lecturer of education, I was in a

position of authority for participants according to job descriptions. As a

result they may have felt some discomfort at refusing my request for

participation. Strategies to minimise any sense of obligation or coercion

for participants included calling for expressions of interest from teachers

who might like to be involved in the research process. The interviewing

process may have caused some social discomfort to participants in

reporting their own practice. In order to address such discomfort, I

conducted the one-to-one interviews in a safe and comfortable place.

Participants were informed that responses were voluntary. I built strong

rapport with the participants before interviewing. I would like to think

that the participants of the research felt enhanced rather than diminished

by participating in the research. In order to reduce possible tension

between collaboration and ownership of findings, participants were

offered feedback. This involved providing interview transcripts to

participants for their checking and opinions.

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Chapter 3

Results

This chapter presents the results of the study from phenomenological

interviews, participant observation and questionnaires. The findings

explore teachers‘ perspectives and understanding of inclusive education.

Qualitative analysis shows that most respondents are in favour of

inclusive education practices, but face enormous challenges to achieve

this goal. The findings are supported by the analytical memos of semi-

structured participant observation, further backed by the quantitative

data. Observation data indicate difficulties in implementing evidence-

based practices in the classroom. Quantitative data from the questionnaire

indicated that participants have a positive attitude towards inclusive

education, but they are not sure how to practice inclusion.

3.1 Qualitative Analysis from Interviews

The qualitative findings are presented here within six themes that

emerged from the interview data supported by analytical memos based on

participant observations. The themes identified are: pragmatic views of

inclusive education, pros and cons of inclusive education practice,

empowering the teachers, teaching and learning practices, enrolment and

evaluation systems, and social dialogue for inclusive education practice.

Within each thematic category, a series of sub-themes is presented.

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3.1.1. Pragmatic View of Inclusive Education

The theme ‗pragmatic view of inclusive education‘ describes the concept

of inclusive education, the need for inclusive education practice, and

perceptions of inclusive education after teachers gained classroom

experience. In this theme, participants also indicate the pros and cons of

inclusive education practice.

3.1.1.1 What is Inclusive Education?

Participants were asked about their understanding of the term inclusive

education. In response, participants reflected on their practical

experiences. They mostly described inclusive education as a unique

system of education aiming to teach every child in the same classroom.

One respondent stated that

Inclusive education for students with disabilities means

conducting teaching learning activities comprising all children, I

mean that all male, female students together with students with

disabilities in the general classroom.

In line with this statement, another respondent added, ―Inclusive

education is about values and morality‖. One of the respondents also

emphasised the importance of equality in facilities by stating that

―Inclusive education means learners from all stages of a society can be

studying in the same institution with getting equal facilities‖. Another

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participant had doubts about inclusive education. According to his view,

―My idea is not clear enough, I think that teaching disadvantaged or

children from poor families may create problems in the classroom.

Inclusive education should minimise the problem situations‖.

One respondent thought that inclusive education was all about children

with disabilities. She claimed, ―I think that inclusive education is for

students with disabilities; is a way of encouraging them to education;

sometimes providing them opportunities for sports and music (co-

curricular activities).‖ Another respondent further added, ―Inclusion is an

idea, a phenomenon, a motion or action of teaching everyone in the same

classroom. Cooperation is the key element.‖

Regarding inclusive education for students with disabilities, one

respondent viewed inclusive education as,

A promise for the disabled towards leading a beautiful-healthy

life, because in the long run, it will directly promote the social as

well as mental development of them. After all, it recognises their

valuable souls which are of equal importance to others.

It is clear from the above that most participants considered inclusive

education from a rights-based perspective. This encourages the

investigation of the meaning of the phenomenon in depth, because the

success of inclusive education depends on how well teachers understand

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inclusion. Interview data also showed that inclusive education is leading

to the widening of participation to include students from a variety of

ethnic backgrounds and social classes. For instance, one respondent

discovered, ―the students in the classroom were from different parts of

the society and they represented different cultures, identities, and past

experiences‖, and another respondent described, ―When I looked around

the classroom I could see people from all walks of life, from disable to

able, poor-rich, and from different socio-economic condition and

religion‖.

3.1.1.2 Need for Inclusive Education Practice

Respondents stated the need for and potential benefits of inclusive

education practice. This is a common ethos among participants that is

reflected in this respondent‘s comment, ―Students with disabilities have

the same rights to education like others in the same institution‖. Similar

ideas were expressed by other respondents.

One found inclusive practice brought positive change in the mind of all

regarding others potentiality, as he said, ―Students with disabilities

become mentally strong if they get a chance to be educated with the non-

disabled‖ and ―I was afraid when I found one VI [visual impaired] and

one HI [hearing impaired] student in my class. After a shorter period, I

noticed that all the other students were helping them‖. Then he stated

that inclusive education was supporting collaboration among students

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with and without disabilities. Another respondent also reported similar

experiences, ―In my inclusive education settings, X and Y [visually

impaired] can exchange and share their ideas with their peers‖.

The positive effects of inclusive education for individuals and

communities were reflected in several responses –

Inclusion fosters social integration in the case of one of my

students with mild intellectual deficits. Once, he was avoided by

his peers. I encouraged the class by pointing his potentials. Now,

he is well accepted. His shortcomings are now seen as an

opportunity for development. Everyone is supporting their hands,

even helps him to come to school, or preparing the task.

and

After all, I think that inclusive education is beneficial for all

students in education, because I think that it is socially enriching,

not psychologically stunting, ensuring better acceptance of

students with disabilities, creating chances for them to receive

education in their familiar environment.‖ These comments

highlighted the teachers‘ level of awareness of the importance of

inclusive education and led to discussion about the steps involved

in achieving an inclusive classroom environment.

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3.1.1.3 The Way to Success within an Inclusive Setting

The questions asked was ‗What contributes to success for students with

disabilities within an inclusive classroom?‘ Respondents identified the

need for an accurate early screening and intervention system, positive

attitude in society, friendly learning environments, involvement of

parents, changing the traditional system of teaching-learning activities,

making appropriate policy, empowering teachers in taking decision for

their learners needs, creating scopes of professional development for the

teachers, developing the support services, serve necessary aids and

appliances for the special child, and appropriate evaluation system.

Several respondents also communicated the following: ―It is useless,

unless we have an appropriate early intervention system. We do not have

a proper screening system either‖; ―We need first to ensure their [students

with disabilities] acceptance in society. I don‘t want to lose any of my

bright students [without a disability] as a result of inclusion‖.

Respondents also identified barriers that limit the success for students

with disabilities. The need for specific professional development to

support teacher development of inclusive education strategies was also

indicated by comments such as -

―I realised that I need training to develop my teaching-learning activities.

I found that classroom management for students with disabilities is quite

different. I need professional development in this area to embrace

inclusion‖. Similarly, the need for different teaching styles for students

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with disabilities was indicated by the comment ―We have to teach

students with disabilities with great patient and tolerance at the secondary

level. I provide them equal importance in the classroom.‖

The need for specific and individualised assessment was highlighted by

this comment ―I analysed them individually, now I am clear about their

deficiency. I can now understand them easily‖.

In fact, the participants learned a lot from their experiences, though the

inclusion process has not been initiated for too long. One respondent said,

―It would be helpful to improve our quality of education by including

students with disabilities into the mainstream classroom. Ultimately, we

are going for improved teaching and learning.‖ Another teacher felt that

their attitudes needed to be changed. He said, ―Our attitudes need to be

changed. By changing our negative attitude, we can easily teach students

with disabilities in collaboration with others.‖ From the societal

perspective, respondents felt the necessity of inclusive education, as one

respondent said, ―Students with disabilities is the inhabitant of our

society. Inclusive education is essential to ensure development. We

should try to make them independent rather burden to the society‖.

These comments indicate a variety of strategies and considerations to

successful inclusive education. The strategies and barriers indentified are

likely the result of participants‘ beliefs and experiences in relation to

students with disabilities and professional development support. This line

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of questioning in the interview then led to discussion on the benefits and

costs of inclusive education.

3.1.2 Pros and Cons of Inclusive Education Practice

Under the theme, participants identified numerous barriers and challenges

encountered in practicing inclusive education. Three subthemes emerged:

a) barriers and challenges of inclusive education practice, b) educating

students with disabilities at secondary school, and c) knowledge

constraint. Participants explored barriers from Macro to Micro level.

Challenges come from society‘s negative attitudes to personal

responsibilities. According to the participants, inclusive education is still

the most feasible education option for students with disabilities at

secondary school in Bangladesh, however this is forcing teachers to

modify traditional teaching and learning practices.

3.1.2.1 Barriers and Challenges of Inclusive Education Practice

In response to the question, ―What are the barriers and challenges to

inclusive education practice in Bangladesh?‖ the respondents identified

multidimensional barriers and significant challenges. Negative societal

attitudes were a commonly reported barrier to inclusive education

practices. In this regard, one respondent depicted the apathy of the

parents of normal children:

Once a parent asked me how those disturbing students [indicating

two of intellectual disabled students] get enrolled. I wouldn‘t like

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that my child mixing with them or playing with them. I‘m afraid

that my child would be like them if he comes into contact with

them.

Accessibility in terms of physical admittance was also identified as a

problem for students with physical disabilities the disabled.

My school is a three storied building. There is no ramp in my

school and the number of classroom was not sufficient enough. It is

very difficult for the physical disabled children with wheelchair to

go upstairs to attend class. I felt sorry for one of my students who

were dropped from class seven to class six because, the classroom

was on the second floor. Either the child was unable to go upstairs,

or the school had difficulty rearranging access to the classroom. It

seemed that a rose was fallen even before blooming.

All the respondents indicated that their large class sizes were barriers to

effective teaching and learning. One respondent asked, ―How could I

manage a class where usually 80 out of 97 students are present. Seating

arrangements are not comfortable for the student. It is too congested…‖

Cultural practices were also identified as a barrier to inclusion by one

respondent who stated, ―Inclusion is a good concept, but you need to

remember child labour is prevalent. Many children need to work and earn

to supplement a meagre family income and therefore do not attend

school‖.

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Such a negative scenario contrasts with the positive inclusive education

initiatives being put forward by the State. Identifying barriers to inclusion

at school level, the study considers a narrative from one of the participant

teachers:

We have every wish to include children with disabilities into our

regular classroom, even though it may increase our workload, but

we are not sure how to handle those children, I had no training in

disability during my pre-service B.Ed. From the CPD [Continuous

Professional Development] Training under TQI-SEP [MoE], I

received inadequate knowledge on disabilities.

Several participants also view centralised policy-making as a barrier with

this comment -

Nothing could be running smoothly without empowering us

(teachers). It is the teachers who are behind all success or failure.

We have no access in policy making or decision making for

ensuring success of my students. I am bound to do so according to

the guidelines of the text book.

The lack of provision of specialist support for some students was

identified as a barrier evidenced by this comment ―We are facing barriers

such as the need for special care. We need professional support to

provide this care. Beside physical infrastructure is not friendly. There is

no ramp in our school.‖

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Three teachers also remarked on micro-level logistical problems such as

variety and unfamiliarity of classes required to teach and substandard

physical classroom spaces, in their teaching practice as barriers to

inclusive education. Their statements were -

...excessive teaching load. I used to teach Bangla in VI, Computer

Science in VII, Science in VIII and Chemistry for the class IX and

X. You would not belive that I also teach English in the class IX

and X.;

―The school building is a problem. It is a tin-shaded house, and it became

difficult to stay inside during summer due to the hot temperature.

Students became impatient and inattentive during hot weather.‖

I conduct six out of seven sessions each day. I experience

different subjects including Hindu religion. I am not a teacher of

Hindu religion but I am a Hindu. There is no Hindu teacher in my

school, so the head teacher asked me to teach Hindu religion.

These logistical difficulties reported highlight some of the additional

barriers experienced by teachers in Bangladesh that may not be such

prominent barriers in other parts of the world.

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3.1.2.2 Educating Students with Disabilities at Secondary Level in

Bangladesh

The participants were asked to describe the best possible options of

education for students with disabilities. Four out of six participants were

strongly in support of inclusive education as the most feasible option for

providing education for students with disabilities at secondary school in

Bangladesh. Supporting statements included ―Acceptance will be

increased‖ and ―It will introduce a competitive mindset to do well. Even,

students with disabilities could learn within the setting. Moreover, it can

develop trustworthiness among teachers and students.‖ One participant

indicated a preference for the establishment of special institutions for

these students.

Living independently would be the goal of education for the

student with disabilities that involve vocational training. That is

why I support having different institutions for the disabled, where

they can learn better. They will not feel shy there due to not

having their nondisabled peers.

The participants also expressed a lack of knowledge and acceptance

among society and schools about the education of students with

disabilities at secondary school. They pointed out lack of societal

consciousness and spirit as well as negative attitudes of schools as

challenges for developing fully inclusive secondary schools. One

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respondent said that ―According to my view, our education system itself

is an obstacle for educating students students with disabilities at

secondary school, the rigid curriculum and examination-based teaching is

a problem for them‖.

The interview data suggested that the teachers experienced technical

difficulties in attempting to teach students with disabilities in their

classroom. One respondent reported,

I face a lot of problems in teaching students with disabilities in

my class. To raise their attention, I struggle everyday but I could

not be angry with them… In some cases, I just overlook students

with disabilities for the sake of others learning.

3.1.2.3 Knowledge on Legislation

Both the interviews as well as the analytical memos showed that the

respondents had a lack of knowledge on local disability legalisation. This

is likely to limit the scope for students with disabilities to gain access to

what is rightfully theirs. It was notable that most of the respondents

ignored or had no knowledge of the Disability Welfare Act (Ministry of

Social Welfare, 2001). The act helps to identify the rights to education

for the Students with disabilities. A teacher explained the cause of why

they were ignorant: ―Our school has nothing regarding the law. It is

important to know about legal frameworks. I heard of that law but

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haven‘t read it yet‖. Another respondent said, ―I know not too much

about the law, but I would like to the policy makers to have an

appropriate and effective law for the welfare of all‖. However, there was

agreement among participants that a legal framework is essential to

establish someone‘s right in a formal institution.

3.1.3. Enrolment and Evaluation System

The theme ‘enrolment and evaluation system’ shows that the present

enrolment and assessment systems are mismatched with inclusive

education. The enrolment system was too competitive for children with

disabilities in contrast to their peers. If students with disabilities could

overcome the barrier of enrolment, they certainly face barriers from the

assessment system. The assessment system is very rigid without any

consideration for students with diverse learning needs.

3.1.3.1 Non-supportive Enrolment Procedure

The participants confirmed that school enrolment procedures were an

obstacle for the development of inclusive education in secondary schools.

A respondent found the enrolment system to be too rigid for students

with disabilities.

Inclusive education is just beginning, we are hopeful, inclusion

can explore their [students with disabilities] rights to education. It

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will take time to change the school entry system. Any change in

enrolment system will encourage students with disabilities to get

an education.

On the other hand, another respondent focused on the enrolment

procedures,

In our Government School, we are enrolling students based on a

competitive test. For each seat, we receive 10 to 30 applications.

PD [physical disabled] has no problem, but it becomes very

difficult for the ID [intellectual disabled] student to perform well

enough and get the chance to be enrolled.

Finally a respondent was in favour of flexible enrolment procedures for

the student with disabilities. He said, ―We should have special policy to

consider students with intellectual disabilities…‖

3.1.3.2 Assessment and Evaluation

The assessment and evaluation system was identified as needing to be

modified in order to better embrace inclusive education. The respondents

commented that classroom assessment should empower both teachers and

their students in order to support the quality of learning in the classroom.

According to one respondent,

After the end of the day, the student with disabilities might not be

able to cross the hurdle of an examination as students without

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disabilities might do. We make our judgement on the basis of

examination marks. According our evaluation, they may get fail

marks.

The shortcomings of the assessment system were further highlighted by a

report of a student being held back a year as he did not meet the

assessment criteria for advancement to the next class. However, several

teachers recognised the necessity of having a policy option for

reconsidering the progress of students with disabilities. One teacher

stated, ―Our evaluation system is fixed and no way to alter it. So, we need

to have a guidelines regarding assessing children with disabilities and

promoting them to the next grade.‖

The issue of separate assessment within inclusive education was raised

during the interviews. For example

We are assessing them (students with disabilities) with the same

criteria as the other students. In the case of intellectual

disabilities, they have a limitation in receiving knowledge, thus,

they can‘t do well and their schooling is questioned by many

others.

Teachers expressed frustration with the examination system with one

teacher reporting ―We are agreeing to do everything for the child with a

disability, but the exam system makes our effort worse‖ and an additional

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comment of ―Our evaluation system sometimes create inferiority

complex for the disabled when they could not get success‖.

3.1.3.2 Peer-Assessment

Three respondents reported introducing peer-assessment procedures in

order to understand student progress. The respondents thought that peer-

assessment is uniquely valuable because learners may accept, from one

another, criticism of their work, which they would not take seriously if

received from their teacher. Participants expressed their experiences

about peer assessment in the following ways:

―I usually give a task to write, and then swap the answer sheet between

students…They do in a very mature and sensible way and this has proved

to be very worthwhile…‖.

They [students with disabilities] take pride in clear and well-

presented work that one of their peers may be asked to mark. Any

disagreement about the answer is thoroughly and openly

discussed until agreement is reached. This means that when

learners do not understand an explanation, they are likely to

interrupt fellow learners… (Interview 1)

―Peer marking is very helpful indeed. A lot of misconceptions come to

the fore and then they discuss issues as they are going over the

homework‖.

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3.1.4. Teaching and Learning Practice

This theme covers areas related to teaching and learning practice

explored by participants during the interviews. The theme includes: a)

Quest for effective teaching and learning (T-L) strategies, b) Lesson

planning, and c) Classroom teaching strategies. The participants appeared

to be challenged by reflecting on making decisions regarding their

teaching practice. For example, in response to the question ‗What would

be the goal of their teaching strategies?‘ One respondent stated,

―Teaching for all or teaching for majority? Is a big question.‖ Several

participants appeared to have an attitude of avoidance towards teaching

students with disabilities, preferring to concentrate on teaching the

majority. Several respondents were attempting to ensure their teaching

was targeting all students. This involved reflection on a number of

teaching and learning strategies.

3.1.4.1 Quest for Effective T-L Strategies

Participants were eager to be successful in their classroom teaching with

students with disabilities. One participant stated, ―This is the second time

in my teaching career, that I have a student with disabilities. I am doing

experiments with the methods which I had learned during CPD training‖.

Another respondent said, ―I rely on trial and error… I try to be good for

the students‖.

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Interview data show that participants explored effective teaching and

learning strategies. The use of visualisation strategies was an example of

reported teaching and learning strategies. For example, one respondent

said,

There are two HI students and one mild ID student in my class.

There was a lesson in Bangla (literature) called ‗Rakte Lekha

Mukti Joddo’ [Blood shaded war of independence]. It was very

difficult for me to make them understand what the war of

independence was and the cruel incidents related to it? We shed

blood and sacrificed thousands of lives in the war. How can I

teach such literature to them? After thinking a lot, I prepared so

many posters with pictures of the war of independence; I brought

our National Flag and Map of our country before and after war.

This visualisation helped my students to understand these times

and concepts.

3.1.4.2 Lesson Plans

The use of lesson plans was linked to successful teaching. The

respondents appeared to be negative towards preparing lesson plans

regularly. One teacher voiced this negativity by stating, ―With a heavy

workload I can‘t prepare lesson plans. But, a plan always works in my

brain.‖ In response to the question ‗How should be the lesson be

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planned?‘ one respondent said, ―I often think that in the lesson planning,

there should be an option for including a plan on how to deal with

students with disabilities, but I don‘t know much about teaching disabled

students.‖

Lesson planning was supported by reflective note taking for several

respondents. ―I maintain a diary where I include routine information

stating the date, class, duration, subject, and topic, learning outcomes for

specific lesson. I also note background information about the students‖.

Writing a journal provided the logical directions for a respondent.

According to him, it ensured effective learning of all children in the

inclusive classroom. ―Every day I write a journal. I record what I did,

how well certain activities worked, how students with or without

disabilities felt about the activities.‖ Another participant said, ―A journal

helps me to look back after returning from the classroom. It also helps me

to be self-critical and self-reflective, as well as help record insights of

students with disabilities of the class.‖

3.1.4.3 Classroom Teaching Strategies

The participants were asked the question ―what are effective classroom

teaching methods?‖ According to one respondent, ―Teachers‘ personal

methods of teaching are the best of all. It is the teacher who is responsible

for the progress of students‖. Participants found that enrolling a student

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with disabilities in their classroom helped them shape their practice. One

respondent appeared frustrated with his teaching practice as he called

inclusive education a discriminatory education system. He stated, ―We

are facing enormous challenges, creating extra burdens on us…‖.

Another teacher stated, ―The presence of a student with disability would

change your practice. I developed more participatory methods after I

found two disabled students in my class‖.

Study respondents specifically mentioned a number of teaching strategies

which were used in their classrooms. These strategies included:

cooperative group teaching, assignments, review and practice,

brainstorming, mind maps, questioning, lectures, role-plays, feedback,

discussions, homework tasks, group work, and phonological methods.

Teachers reported cooperating group teaching, assignment, reviewing,

and group work, questioning, brain storming as the most effective

methods. For example, in discussing role-playing one teacher recollected

the dramatisation of an interesting story had made his students attentive

and apparently happy. Additional respondents stated that role-playing

may support the development of higher order thinking skills. However,

one respondent suggested the need for role-playing to be well planned

and prepared, in order to prevent negative experiences. His experience

was-

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Once, I decided to introduce role-play in my class. Students were

enjoying this too much and the class ran out of control. A student

with disabilities (intellectual disabled) made a mistake in playing

his role. He had just forgotten his dialogue.

3.1.4.4 Managing the Class

With regard to classroom management, respondents expressed a number

of challenges experienced with large class size. They reported a few

strategies to manage large and difficult class. One respondent said,

My class is too large and crowded. I used to assign each student

to a seat and regularly rotate rows so all students have time in the

front rows as well as the back rows. But I put students with

disabilities in the first rows.

Another teacher focused on the use of teaching aids to manage a large

class. One respondent said,

We have very few teaching aids in our school. So I prepare my

own aids by using students to help collect items, cut items from

newspapers, magazines, draw and write on card. I was also

supplied with unused wall-calendars to draw chart and draw or

pest picture...

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Knowledge of individual students was noted as an important aspect of

managing the classroom. One respondent said,

I think that knowing students in person is important. I talk with

my students outside as well as inside the classroom in order to get

to know them as a person, because a positive relationship with

my students builds a willingness on their part to actively

participate in class.

Similarly a respondent reported to the importance of listening to the

students in order to manage classroom - ―I always take care to listen to

the student including interpreting words and actions. Listening carefully

helps me determine the students‘ needs‖.

The importance of communication in effectively managing large classes

was also reported by statements such as

Communicating effectively is important to teach in an inclusive

setting, because, we have to communicate with many people

throughout the day: parents, children, support staff, the general

public, and administrators. I am always prepared to communicate

with all of these people and feel comfortable opening up, asking

questions, seeking advice, and sharing my experiences.

The issue of managing behaviours in the classroom was the subject of

many responses. Most participants reported the use of alternative

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practices to support behaviour management. For example, one respondent

said, ―Once one of my students produced a big shout all in a sudden, I

avoid punishment, so asked him to come forward and sit on the first

bench‖. Another respondent stated ―Kalim (pseudonym), a hyperactive

child in my class, behaved in a disturbing manner, then I asked him a few

questions on the basis of my teaching, and also asked him to read a part

of the text loudly.‖

3.1.5. Hidden Disability and Inclusive Practices in Secondary Schools

This section explores respondents‘ opinions and experiences of hidden

disabilities. The term hidden disabilities refer to disabilities that are not

visually obvious such as learning difficulties. Respondents reported that

hidden disabilities were a problem for inclusion in Bangladesh, as one

respondent stated ―They have no significant noticeable problem, but they

could not understand the lesson. They do not pay attention to the

classroom activities.‖ Teachers appear to have no option of diagnosing or

identifying hidden disabilities, especially in case of learning disabilities.

Teachers reportedly treat them as ―dull‖ students who are not able to

learn similar to others. The following conversation with teacher X during

an interview revealed such issues for inclusive practice at secondary level

in Bangladesh.

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Teacher (T). I have received training on IE. In my class, there is

student called ‗Anil‘. He is not treated/diagnosed as disabled. But

I found that he is very slow in learning, can‘t understand anything

quickly. If you look at his past academic records, you may see a

very frustrated picture. My question is why? Is he not disabled?

Researcher (R). What do you think?

T. I think he is also disabled. Though he has not diagnosed, but he

has serious learning disabilities. His disabilities are hidden. He

looks in normal physical condition.…. Due to his hidden

disabilities, several students have bullied him. He doesn‘t like

school now.

R. What can we do for children like him?

T. Only true inclusive education with appropriate diagnosis can

prevalent these students. We need to be aware of hidden

disabilities.

Other respondents also reported that students with attention deficit

disorder needed special attention and intervention to support access to the

learning environment.

Additional reports of students with hidden disability included

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I have a student who has speech problems. He can‘t express his

thoughts well verbally or in writing. He makes a number of

spelling mistakes in exams. I think that he may be intelligent… he

even cannot read spontaneously…He is not disabled, what can I

do?

3.1.6. Empowering Teachers in the Classrooms

The theme ‗empowering teachers in the classrooms‘ shows that the

presence of students with disabilities in the classroom is the first step

towards ensuring classrooms and teachers practiced inclusive education.

Analysis of teacher responses indicates that strategies and policies that

may support the empowerment of classrooms and also support teachers in

ensuring progress of students in the class. Respondents reported different

styles and ideas to empower their classrooms. This section explores the

state of classroom teaching from empowerment perspectives and

discusses the presence of students with disabilities in the classroom and

role of the classroom teacher. Sub-themes presented here included

teachers‘ aspiration within practice and teaching social skills.

3.1.6.1 Aspirations within Practice

The presence of students with disabilities in the classroom offers a

challenge for educators. When responding to the question about the

problems teachers face in order to teach their class, respondents stated

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many challenges due to the presence of students with disabilities.

However, one respondent reported no problems in teaching children with

disabilities. A lack of knowledge on various disabilities such as hearing

and visual impairments and intellectual disabilities presented some

teachers with challenges.

One teacher reported the challenge of teaching a student with hearing-

impaired in her regular classroom. This teacher stated ―As a teacher, I

feel a problem with hearing-impaired students is the need for me to

repeat important vocabulary that kills valuable teaching time‖. Another

respondent stated, ―I often fail to communicate with them (students with

hearing impairment), because I am inexperienced with sign language.‖

Even though this teacher‘s attitude reflected negativity towards inclusive

practices, she appeared to be working towards developing inclusion as

she reported ―We need to pay attention to our students‘ specific problems

when they arise, special attention to students with hearing impairment

include rearranging the seating arrangement.‖ Similarly, a teacher who

had a student with visual impairment in his classroom was unfamiliar

with the Braille system. He stated ―Do you suggest me to learn Braille? I

have no such time‖. He also reported ―they could not understand visual

T-L activities well, they also don‘t make an effort in group work, and

sometimes cannot read the blackboard or sometimes they are not

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prepared for the lesson‖. One respondent rejected the concept of inclusive

education for specific children:

According to my view, inclusive education is not possible for

students with visual impairment or hearing impairment, but could

be effective for the students with mild intellectual disabilities and

physical disabilities. We should have an option of separate

schools for severe HI and VI students.

Consideration of the interview data indicated that respondents thought a

good teacher who practiced inclusion should be ‗honest, committed to the

task, and resourceful‘. One participant said,

I realise, for teaching, we should be a lot more honest,

resourceful, and patriotic and compassionate than general. The

good teachers are those who truly and deeply respect their tasks

and who try to do their duty to their utmost ability.

Another respondent added, ―to be a good teacher, we also need to teach

children will disabilities‖.

When comparing the responses from respondents from urban schools and

rural schools, there appeared to be differences between their practices.

Teachers from urban schools appeared more open to the concepts and

practice of inclusion than rural teachers. Observation data also confirmed

that the urban-rural gap was potentially creating a vacuum at the

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secondary level in terms of quality of practice. ―We should give more

attention regarding the education of students with disabilities in rural

areas…in the rural area, problems are enormous for students with

disabilities‖. One teacher from a school situated in a rural area of the

country explains his experience, ―Once I felt a need to be familiar with

Braille due to the presence of a student with VI in my class. But I got no

support from my locality and surrounding areas. It‘s frustrating.‖ The

need for support from a national level was voiced by one respondent

when he stated that

The government should take meaningful steps to bring Students

with disabilities forward in education. Their education should be

free and should introduce allowances for their parents. We also

need to appoint teacher with disabilities and encourage them as

well in society.

For doing well in the classroom, respondents would like to have some

support. Most of the respondents felt the need of continuous professional

development training. One respondent said, ―I have no such training on

disability.‖ Another participant was looking for support from

professionals. As one respondent describes, ―Sometimes, I could not

understand what actually he [one of ID student] wants. I need support

from professionals. There should be facilities where I could seek

specialised advice and support‖. For the reason, one respondent said, ―I

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do need a teaching assistant who will work with my disabled student‖.

Several of these reported aspirations of teachers within their practice also

touch on the need for increased teacher responsibility in developing

inclusive practices.

3.1.6.2 Teachers’ Responsibility

Interview data revealed a number of pre-requisites for teaching students

with disabilities in an inclusive setting in secondary schools. The feeling

of ‗safe‘ is an important pre requisite for learning in an inclusive setting.

One respondent stated, ―The student with disability in a mainstream

classroom can learn well if they get cooperation and help from other. In

my class, there was a student called Shimul who has problem in his right

foot‖. He further added,

Shimul was a meritorious student but it was unpleasant for him to

sit on bench or move around. His fellow students help him. It

creates a sense of safety for Shimul in the classroom that makes

his mind cheerful and ready to learn.

The issue of differentiation and highlighting disabilities was raised by

another respondent who suggested ―The student with or without disability

are both of my students. I shouldn‘t differentiate among them‖.

For empowering the classroom it is essential to be clear about teachers‘

responsibilities, which may change in an inclusive setting. One

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respondent said, ―As a teacher, I have some duties beyond my academic

activities‖. Respondents mentioned their own strategies of working

towards success within the inclusive classroom. Respondents said their

strategies were as: ―I will teach a PWD with a good coordination with

non-disabled in my class. It‘s my duty to ensure a cordial environment in

my classroom, where everyone is cooperative and friendly‖.

Respondents linked their ethos of care to their success. A caring attitude

towards students with disabilities appeared to help the teacher to be

successful. One respondent said,

It is true that there is some problem for us having the student with

disabilities in the classroom. We need to pay special attention to

them. Our time is limited and students‘ number is big. It is really

a challenging task to refrain the non-disabled from bullying

students with disabilities.

Another respondent said, ―Teachers need to be more careful when

student with disabilities are included in his/her class. As a manager I

always take care of my disabled students.‖ However, providing excessive

special attention may create problems as one respondent stated,

At the beginning I felt there were few problems in the classroom

with two students with disabilities. For example, one student was

sort of hearing impaired. For them, I had to spend more time, I

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had to pronounce every sentence several times, and I also had to

get close to him. It was like an exam of patience for me. I was

running behind my syllabus.

This reported need for extra attention by teachers links with the reported

need for teachers to support the development of social skills among

students with disabilities.

3.1.6.3 Teaching Social Skills to Students with Disabilities

Respondents identified social skills as being important to learn well. The

interview and observation data confirmed that three respondents regularly

included the specific teaching of social skills in their lessons. Social skills

were also included in their lessons only when related to the content. For

example, a respondent noted ―I ask my students every day to respect their

elders and obey the social customs. In my lessons, I present various

stories from social life related to the task. It helps them to be aware of

social rules‖.

The interview data shows that due to the requirements of the new school-

based assessment system, the teacher has to focus on social skills. It was

found in four observations that teachers were conscious about the

cleanliness of the classroom which several respondents linked to

promoting social skills. For example,

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I formed 10 groups who will clean up the classroom before school

hour by rotation. The group members of each group need to come

early on their assigned day of cleaning. The disabled children are

also included. Now they are confident about their duties.

3.2 Analysis of Questionnaire

This section presents findings from the analysis of the questionnaire

including two scales along with several open-ended questions (see

appendix 3). The administration of questionnaires in person by the

researcher enabled 100% return rate. The questionnaire was developed to

determine sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education

amongst practicing teachers. The questionnaire also sheds light on their

practices. There are two scales featured in the questionnaire. One scale is

‗Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale [ATIES]‘, and other is ‗Rate

Yourself about Your Strategies and Practices‘.

3.2.1 Attitudes and Beliefs

The ATIES scale was used to compile information on the nature of

teaching strategies used in the classroom. All items were rated on a

seven-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree (7) to strongly

disagree (1). Responses to the items on the scale were analysed to

determine the reliability of the items presented. As the scales/questions

used were experimental in nature, all responses across all participants

were combined in a classical item analysis. Internal consistency

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reliability for the 16-item attitude scales yielded a coefficient alpha of

0.926 which met the most rigorous measure of internal consistency (i.e., a

= 0.8; Nunnally, 1978). Teachers‘ attitude towards inclusive education

was somewhat positive, but indicated that they still had doubts on how to

practice it.

A number of researchers believe using descriptive statistics such as the

mean to describe central tendency is not appropriate when scores are

measured on an ordinal scale (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2004). For an

ordinal item, such as a Likert-type scale, scores are in ordered categories

and do not allow one to determine distance (Tejeda-Delgad, 2009). For

such cases dealing with ordinal items, the median is consistently

appropriate and a more accepted and preferred measure of central

tendency than the mean (Tejeda-Delgad, 2009). Table 2 includes

descriptive statistics of central tendency along with the median response

for the original scale items.

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Table 2

Analysis of Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale

Item No Item Mean SD Median

1. Students whose academic achievement is 2 or more

years below the other students in the grade should be in

regular classes.

3.9 2.42 4.5

2. Students who are physically aggressive toward their

peers should be in regular classes. 4.5 2.12 5

3. Students who cannot move without help from others

should be in regular classes. 3.7 2.00 3.5

4. Students who are shy and withdrawn should be in

regular classes. 5.8 1.13 6

5. Students whose academic achievement is 1 year below

the other students in the grade should be in regular

classes.

4.6 2.11 5.5

6. Students whose speech is difficult to understand should

be in regular classes. 5.2 1.22 6

7. Students who cannot read standard print and need to use

Braille should be in regular classes. 3.8 2.39 3.5

8. Students who are verbally aggressive toward their peers

should be in regular classes. 5.3 1.33 5.5

9. Students who have difficulty expressing their thoughts

verbally should be in regular classes 5.1 1.52 5.5

10. Students who need training in self-help skills and

activities of daily living should be in regular classes. 4.5 1.71 5

11. Students who use sign language or communication

boards should be in regular classes. 4.7 1.88 6

12. Students who cannot control their behavior and disrupt

activities should be in regular classes. 4.4 1.95 5.5

13. Students who need an individualised functional

academic program in everyday reading and math skills

should be in regular classes.

4.1 1.85 4

14. Students who cannot hear conversational speech should

be in regular classes. 3.9 2.02 3.5

15. Students who do not follow school rules for conduct

should be in regular classes. 5.1 1.44 6

16. Students who are frequently absent from schools should

be in regular classes 5.7 1.15 6

Overall 4.64

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None of the items had a median score of seven, representing a central

response of ‗strongly agree‘. Five of the items had a median score of six,

representing a response of ‗agree‘. On the other hand, three of the items

had a median of 3.5, representing the response of ‗somewhat disagree‘ to

‗neutral‘. The respondents were more likely to respond with ‗slightly

disagree‘ to including three types of students with special needs into the

mainstream classroom. Their concerns were primarily about students who

could not move without help from others, students who could not read

standard print and needed to use Braille and students who could not hear

conversational speech. Unique skills and knowledge are often required to

support these students appropriately in classroom environments.

The mean for overall items was 4.64, which denotes that teacher

educators‘ attitudes towards inclusive education were somewhat positive,

however reflected doubts on how to practice inclusive education.

3.2.2 Teaching Strategies

On a number of evidence-based strategies, participants rated their

strategies and practices on a four point Likert scale ranging from Very

often (4) to rarely/never (1). The scale originated from Mitchell‘s (2008)

work on evidence-based practice. There was a chance to verify rated data

with the interview and observation data. The following table shows

participants‘ ratings towards their practices.

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Table 3

Rating teaching strategies

No Criteria Rating (%)

Median Very

often

Often Occasionally Rarely/

Never

1. I use mixed ability co-operative group teaching 17% 50% 33% 0% 3

2. I use Peer Tutoring 0% 17% 33% 50% 2

3. In my Lesson I review and practice the key ideas of

previous lesson 33% 33% 17% 17% 3

4. I evaluate all students‘ progress during lessons and

adjust my teaching as a result 17% 33% 50% 0% 3

5. I provide feedback to all students in my class 67% 0% 33% 0% 3

6. I teach my students cognitive strategies; i.e. problem

solving strategies 0% 17% 33% 50% 2

7. I encourage my students to set goals and to evaluate

their own progress in achieving them 0% 17% 50% 33% 2

8. I teach my students a range of memory strategies* 17% 17% 16% 50% 2

9. I assist my students to improve their reading

comprehension by predicting, questioning and

summarizing texts 17% 33% 17% 33% 2

10. I use behavioral approaches in my teaching, especially

in the case of students with behavioural difficulties 0% 17% 17% 66% 2

11. I teach my students appropriate social skills 66% 17% 17% 0% 4

12. I try to create a classroom climate safe, predictable and

motivating 50% 17% 33% 0% 3

13. I try to ensure my students have adequate time for

learning 17% 17% 33% 33% 2

14. I adapt the curriculum to suit the needs of all my

students 0% 0% 0% 100% 1

15. I adapt assessment methods to suit the needs of all my

students 0% 0% 17% 83% 1

16. I use available information and communication

technology, including assistive technology for students

with disabilities 17% 17% 16% 50% 2

17. I actively co-operate with other professionals and

teachers 33% 33% 34% 0% 3

18. I actively involve parents in their children‘s programme 0% 17% 33% 50% 2

19. In the case of beginning readers, I teach phonological

processing (e.g., listening skills and phonics) 50% 33% 17% 0% 3

20. My classroom environment (e.g. lighting, ventilation,

sound) is optimal for learning 17% 33% 17% 33% 2

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No Criteria Rating (%)

Median Very

often

Often Occasionally Rarely/

Never

21. In the case of students‘ undesirable social behaviours, I

analyze what purpose they serve and design ways of

changing them 33% 33% 17% 17% 3

22. I ensure that all my students achieve a 90 percent or

better success rate on critical tasks 17% 33% 50% 0% 2

Only one of the items had a median score of four, representing a central

response of ‗very often‘. On the other hand two of the items had median

score of one, representing the response ‗rarely/never.‖ These responses

reflected the reality of education in Bangladesh. Participants had no

scope to adapt curriculum or assessment. Eight of the items had a median

score of three, representing a response of ‗often‘. Participants often

introduced strategies such as mixed ability cooperative group teaching,

review and practice, reflection on students‘ progress, feedback, ensuring

safe classroom atmosphere, cooperation with other professional,

phonological process, and behaviour modification. The respondents were

more likely to respond ‗occasionally‘ to practice 11-strategies in the

mainstream classroom. These are peer tutoring, cognitive strategies, self-

learning by setting goals, memory strategies, reading comprehension,

behavioural approaches, information technology, and ensuring better

achievement of the students.

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Many of the teaching strategies reported to support inclusive education

were used by respondents. Fifty percent of participants often used mixed

ability co-operative group teaching, whereas in the case of pair tutoring,

50% of teachers‘ response was ‗never‘. Two thirds of the respondents are

positive about reviewing and practicing the key ideas of previous lessons.

Only 17% of the respondents could regularly evaluate all students‘

progress during lessons and adjust their teaching as a result. Most of the

respondents (67%) provided feedback during the session regularly. Half

of the participants (50%) had never tried cognitive strategies in their

classroom, whereas half of the respondents (50%) occasionally

encouraged their students to set goals and to evaluate their (students‘)

own progress in achieving them.

All respondents thought that creating a classroom climate that was safe,

predictable and motivating was their first priority in teaching.

Surprisingly, none of the respondents had regular communication with

parents. Half of the respondents (50%) preferred phonological processing

(e.g., listening skills and phonics) in their class to help ensure students‘

achievement of a 90 percent or better success rate on critical tasks.

3.2.3 Open-ended Questions

In response to the question about the level of interaction with a person

with a disability, five out of six respondents indicated they had not had

any remarkable interactions. Having no remarkable interaction may

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create confusion regarding the abilities and capabilities of students with

disabilities in mainstream schools. One respondent mentioned that the

key feature of the local legislation on disability is to teach students with

disabilities separately. Interestingly, this interpretation would seem to be

the opposite of what is stipulated in the original text.

Most of the participants (67%) had experienced very short orientations on

inclusive education, which they received during their subject-based

continuous professional development in-service training course. The

training had a very limited focus on students with disabilities. Having no

focus of disability in training could construct a conceptual barrier for

inclusion. Without training and support, inclusive educational practices

are likely to be difficult to implement.

It is imperative for teachers to have knowledge on legislation of disability

and inclusive education. Data indicate that 50% (n = 3) of the participants

had poor knowledge on disability legislation. One third reported that they

had no knowledge of the legislation. Commenting on local legislation,

especially on the ‗Disability Welfare Act 2001‘ (Ministry of Social

Welfare, 2001), one teacher commented ―This act and the CRC should be

included in all the in-service training session.‖

Along with assessing attitude, the survey also examined the confidence

level of the respondents in teaching students with disabilities. Responses

indicate that most of them have average confidence in working with

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students with disabilities and that they seek external support to develop

confidence.

An additional question posed was: ―What is the main barrier in education

for a student with a disability?‖ Responding this open-ended question, the

respondents identified five main barriers prior to the context. These are –

- lack of access to mainstream education;

- low [or lack of] expectations of teachers and peers;

- negative attitudes of family and non-disabled peers;

- lack of a friendly atmosphere in the classroom;

- demanding special attention.

The highest number (66%) of the respondents said that their professional

orientation was not enough to cover the needs of the different types of

learners. They also expressed their concern regarding the evaluation

system. All of the respondents (100%) agreed that rethinking appropriate

academic evaluation for different types of learners in the same class was

an appropriate strategy.

3.3 Findings from Observations

A descriptive analysis of the responses based on field notes was

conducted. One guideline for observing classroom activity sequentially

and one checklist for rating teaching strategies was considered to obtain

contextual data.

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3.3.1 Teaching-Learning Strategies

In between two interviews, two classroom observations were made

within a one week period. The findings explore the natural situation of

the classroom. It was observed that classroom teaching skills, such as

professional skills and attitudes includes discipline, attitude, presentation,

responsiveness, feedback, planning, content knowledge, communication,

group management, methods and classroom management, engagement,

questioning, teaching aids, relationships, and evaluation. The observation

results demonstrate that in most cases participants were partially

responsive to the needs of their class. Most of the teachers had no formal

lesson plan – stating that they just came up with the planning in their

heads. Some teachers did not appear well-prepared for class.

In the case of content knowledge, participants showed that they were

enthaustic, and that they had in-depth knowledge. This is likely due to

them all having taken Bangla literature during their undergraduate

studies. They showed confidence in teaching, but a number of them

appeared helpless towards the needs of students with disabilities and

challenged by the large class sizes. Participants‘ concepts regarding the

focus of the lessons were clear in most of the cases.

In case of communication, most of the teachers were well-versed when

communicating with students and when the groups included disabled

students. In a particular class, a teacher asked 13 questions to the

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students. None of the disabled or students seated at the back of the class

was asked. It was found that the teachers displayed a minor colloquial

accent in pronunciation, but as a teacher of Bangla, they were devoted to

teaching pronunciation and spelling. In most of the cases, they were

limited in their proximity to students. Three teachers were confined near

the lecture table and blackboard, but two moved about the class to

supervise students‘ task.

Observation data reflected the teachers‘ strategies for managing group

work. For every group, the teacher nominated one group leader.

However, none of the groups had a team leader who was disabled. There

was a lack of monitoring and supervision of group work. It may be due to

the congested classroom with fixed benches (seating arrangement). Most

of the respondents did not supervise the activities of students with

disabilities in the group. Two respondents showed their eagerness of

monitoring and supervising group activities. One of them visited every

group and facilitated discussions to make their ideas clear. On the other

hand, several teachers experienced problems in group management due

mostly to the large class sizes. Two teachers were unable to finish their

group activities within the stipulated amount of time.

During the observations it was apparent that respondents tried to engage

their students in the lessons. In most of the cases, student engagement did

not appear frequent or on task. In the case of students with disabilities,

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the frequency of engagement was very low. It was found that in a class,

no students with disabilities asked any questions, whereas 16 other

students asked questions. In order to motivate students, teachers used a

number of activities. Two teachers explained the learning outcomes first,

whereas another teacher wrote down the difficult words on the

blackboard and discussed the meaning of these words before proceeding

with lesson. Three other teachers simply reviewed their previous class.

Teachers were observed providing verbal praise to students. In most

cases, teachers encouraged students to ask questions and teachers

themselves also posed questions to students. Some teachers used direct

questioning whereas others used more indirect or open questions.

However, very few questions were asked to students with disabilities.

3.3.2 Evaluating Teaching Learning Activities

This analysis presents the findings in relation to teachers‘ preferences with

regards to how they perceive evidence-based practice. Based on the analytical

memos, it could be concluded that the majority of the respondents were not

using evidence-based practice. Participant observations reveal that most of the

teachers evaluate their students by asking questions, and a few with assigned

homework tasks. Making the atmosphere safe and interesting appeared to be

the priority for teachers. A portion of teachers‘ time was often allocated to

teach social skills in relation to the lesson. Observations of participants affirm

112

that there was no use of peer tutoring and teachers provided limited support for

self-regulated learning. No parental involvement was observed throughout all

observations.

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Chapter 4

Discussion

4.1 Discussion

This study attempted to contribute to the vision of a better future for

students with disabilities in Bangladesh. It also set out to understand

and describe the inclusive education practice for children with disabilities

at secondary school in Bangladesh. To answer the research questions,

information was collected by phenomenological interviews,

participant observations and questionnaire. This chapter discusses the

findings presented in the previous chapters with reference to the literature

and presents implications of these findings.

The findings reveal that participants reported a diverse range of

experiences, beliefs and attitudes relevant to inclusive education

practices. Participants understood inclusion as being ‗about values and

morality‘, ‗a motion or action of teaching everyone in the same

classroom‘, ‗a promise‘, ‗pull-out strategies‘, and even ‗problematic‘. At

the same time, participants found no other valid alternative to inclusive

education for students with disabilities in Bangladesh. Special education

institutes are costly and limited to municipal areas. As a result education

of a large number of students with disabilities is depending on successful

implementation of inclusive education at secondary school.

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The Bangladesh education system stipulates that students with disabilities

have the right to attend their local schools (CSID, 2002). The Convention

on the Rights of Peoples with Disabilities [CRPD] (UN, 2006) is now a

legal obligation, and must be reflected in education contexts. Article 3

‘General Principles’ and Article 24 on education, strongly advocates for

inclusive education and rejects all other forms of education for students

with disabilities. The successful implementation of these national policies

depends upon the belief that inclusive schooling is a moral obligation of

society which without equity within schools does not and cannot exist

(Snell & Janney, 2000).

The participant teachers in this study were in the middle of a transition

period. The Bangladesh education system will continue to move towards

inclusion. As these teachers are potential agents of the changing world,

we must embrace such change, as Joseph Kisanji (1999) said,

Change will be more painful to those of us who have made a

living out of, and wield some power in, special education.

However, if we believe in ‗Education for All‘, we need to

surrender the power we hold and work collaboratively to create

effective schools and inclusive education. (p.13)

Participants agreed that a combined effort is needed to make schools

inclusive. This is likely to require effort in the community, from parents

to teachers, personnel to policymakers and administrators (Epstein &

Elias, 1996). In the current study, the teachers‘ concerns were

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concentrated around three issues, which were relationships between

students with and without disabilities, teaching strategies, and managing

strategies for a large class. These findings shared some similarity with

Idol‘s (2006) report that adaptation of instruction, modification of

curriculum, student discipline and classroom management were the

challenges for teachers in an inclusive classroom.

Participant comments that indicated an understanding of inclusive

education practice included ‗ensuring equal rights‘, ‗transforming as

mentally strong‘, , ‗enhancing mechanism of student‘s cooperation,

‗means of increasing participation‘, ‗opening of a rewarding perspective‘,

and ‗scope of social integration‘. Such experiences and understanding of

participants could be explained from the literature of the Salmanka

declaration.

Regular schools with this inclusive orientation are the most

effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating

welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and

achieving education for all. (UNESCO, 1994, p.viii)

In line with this statement, the respondents found inclusion to be a means

of uplifting acceptance of students with disabilities in the classroom as

well as in society. Findings show that their perceptions of inclusive

education practice descended from a rights-based approach. Respondents

believed that getting support from others in terms of assistive aids and

appliances could help to establish the rights of children with disabilities.

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This is consistent with children with disabilities being eligible for equal

access to printed materials, supporting aids and appliances to support

them to overcome barriers in education (Rahaman, 2008).

Studies have shown that the rate of inclusion in the general classroom of

students with disabilities has increased considerably in recent years

(Cook, Cameron & Tankersley, 2007). As a result, inclusive practices are

affecting virtually every aspect of contemporary schooling (Cook,

Cameron & Tankersley, 2007). The teachers in this study appear to be

looking for appropriate intervention strategies to support and enhance

their inclusive education practice. However, findings also reveal that

ensuring a friendly learning atmosphere for all students was a challenging

task for the teachers; few of them thought it was the most essential part of

their daily duties. Research shows that if an appropriate learning

environment is developed, students with multiple disabilities can achieve

success in educational settings (Kravets, 2006).

Including students with disabilities helped bring about positive changes

in others‘ mindsets. At the same time it encouraged students with

disabilities to become self-confident. This finding is consistent with

previous research that demonstrated educating students with disabilities

positively changed the mindset of teachers and students (Cook, Cameron

& Tankersley, 2007). Furthermore, Daniel and King (1997) reported the

positive impact of inclusive education on students‘ academic

achievement.

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Engaging students in the classroom activities is a key responsibility of

teachers. The teachers in this study reported their concentrated effort in

creating opportunities for all students to share in learning activities,

although respondents indicated that the main responsibility of a teacher

within inclusive education was to make the atmosphere fair and

satisfactory. In fact, a teacher‘s role has been considered as the centre of

the whole teaching and learning process. Florian and Kershner (2009)

stated that ―the teacher‘s central role is to orchestrate these classroom

practices drawing on the basic understanding of children, learning,

teaching and curriculum which make teaching possible‖ (p.177).

Teachers‘ cooperation with colleagues and students‘ families helped a

few of them to be successful, because ―knowledge develops through

shared activity in social contexts‖ (Florian, & Kershner, 2009, p.175),

which echoes socio-cultural theory (Florian & Kershner, 2009; Lupton,

1999; Mahn,1999) .

Support from parents is a vital factor for student success (Melnechenko &

Horsman, 1998). However, half of the respondents in the current study

had no contact with students‘ parents, but they had an understanding that

cooperation with parents would help to get a clearer picture regarding the

student‘s context. Developing effective communication with parents is

likely to benefit the school as a whole (Dorfman & Fisher, 2002). There

was no evidence of the existence of any individualised educational plans

(IEPs) for any of students with disabilities. However, a few respondents

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noted diary and journal writing for class preparation in general.

Literature showed that IEPs proved effective to directing students‘

progress in the right way (MoE [NZ], 1999; 2000).

Findings identify the significant barriers for the achievement of truly

inclusive educational practices in Bangladesh. The barriers are

multidimensional and the challenges are enormous. Respondents identify

that societal negative attitudes, inaccessible surroundings, very large

class sizes, high cost of opportunities where child labour is prevalent, and

lack of teachers‘ professional preparation. On the other hand, challenges

become more compounded due to the limited access in decision making,

and having no professional support systems or mechanisms.

Compounding these problems are personal challenges experienced by

teachers (e.g., excessive class loads; low wages and social status) that are

also likely to act as barriers to inclusive practice, although many of these

barriers could be partially solved by the development of positive

attitudes. As Snell and Janney (2000) stated the key to successful

inclusion is in the willingness of key stakeholders and participants to

visualise, work for and achieve a school, which is adaptive to and

supportive of everyone.

Most respondents (83%) reported that existing professional orientation

was not enough to cover the needs of teaching different types of learners.

Respondents indicated that the existing teacher education was not up to

the mark for supporting teachers to implement inclusive education for

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students with disabilities. Ahsan and Burnip (2009) portrayed a similar

picture within the same context. As a result, not having appropriate

knowledge of inclusiveness and disabilities are making their efforts

somehow questionable. Quantitative data show that participants realised

that appropriate training for addressing inclusive issues should be

initiated. Clement (2010) stated that ―Without sufficient knowledge of

classroom management strategies, new teachers may begin their careers

striving to manage as they were managed‖ (p.42). Thus it is time that

Bangladeshi educational agencies introduce effective training

programmes for teachers. Clement (2010) found that if an educator does

not have wisdom regarding education and pedagogy, he could find

himself in trouble that may affect the overall education system of the

country. Eventually, respondents voiced a common stance that inclusion

is essential for children with disabilities, because only inclusive

education recognises the need to work towards ―schools for all‖

(UNESCO, 1994).

Participants experienced that the assessment and evaluation system was

not perfect for students with disabilities. They were in a challenging

situation due to the existing enrolment and evaluation system. The

enrolment system is a barrier for students with disabilities to be included

in schools. This was against the idea of schools for all of the Salmanka

Declaration (UNESCO, 2004). Recently central concepts of students‘

standards and schooling started to create tension, because raising the

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achievement of all students within an inclusive setting was concerned

with raising standards according to government requirements (Wallace,

Montgomery, Winstanley, Pomerantz, & Fitton, 2009). As a result, the

participants suggested creating flexibility within the system for students

with disabilities. Participants were practicing both formative and

summative assessment procedures. Participants identified that insistence

on paper and pencil tests contributed to negative academic outcomes for

students with disabilities. Ashworth, Bloxham, and Pearce (2009)

identified a high level of tension between academic standards and

inclusion for students with disabilities. Participants viewed assessment as

the determiner of a child‘s progress towards a milestone or set of

standards, which influenced them to take a more pragmatic stance.

Most of the participants were positive about the presence of children with

disabilities in their classrooms, but several reported being challenged by

teaching students with hearing impairments, visual impairments, and

students with moderate intellectual disabilities. This report is consistent

with research and practical experience suggesting that teaching children

with high levels of special educational needs is very challenging

(Wallace, et al., 2009).

Florian and Kershner (2009) raised a number of questions regarding

educational goals and priorities to understand the implication of inclusive

teaching, such as: ―Teaching what? By whom to which students? In

which context? Under what constraints?‖ (p.173). Interviews and

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observations showed that in a few cases teachers had fragmented their

knowledge from effective teaching. Teaching methods were utilised

because they felt a need to and not necessarily based on any evidence.

These reports do not support the idea of effective teaching, which could

be characterised within inclusive phenomenon as ―teaching where

interventions are matched to the apparently unique characteristics of an

individual or particular set of students‖ (Florian & Kershner, 2009,

p.173).

In contrast, participants identified the factors contributing to success in

the inclusive classroom. Participants provided opportunities to students

with disabilities, and created a good atmosphere of equitable and fair

teacher-student interactions. As a consequence, they consciously

portrayed positive images of students with disabilities with great

patience. Moreover, a number of teachers were careful about the

potentiality of their students, because- ―inclusive education offers a more

just and equitable approach to responding to student diversity‖ (Florian,

& Kershner, 2009, p. 173).

Even though the participants reported obstacles such as existing fixed

furniture, large classrooms, and insufficient space for proximity in the

class, they appeared to be knowledgeable about the issues of classroom

management.. Participants noted put various initiatives such as ‗calling

all students by their name‘, ‗behaving positively with students‘,

‗explaining the goals of the lesson‘, ‗introducing quizzes at the end of

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class‘, ‗teach with confidence and authority‘, ‗communicate clearly with

students‘, ‗developing a positive atmosphere‘, ‗listening to the students

carefully‘, and ‗asking questions‘. In fact, teaching strategies of the

teachers were dependent on the individual learner‘s interests and needs,

as the analysis identified that each teacher experienced problem situations

differently.

Participants reported and were observed using a variety of teaching

practices. They typically used traditional or modern evidence-based

methods in their classroom as well as introducing their own modified

methods that were thought better or more appropriate. Observation data

show that respondents used teacher-centric methods most of the time. For

example, the use of lectures, blackboards, reading aloud, discussions and

teacher directed questioning. Respondents also perceived as the most

effective teaching methods as cooperative group teaching, assignments,

reviewing, group work, questioning, and brain storming. . The

questionnaire data show that 83% of the respondents could not evaluate

all students‘ progress during lessons. These participants reported

experiencing problems in managing large class sizes. This reflects a level

of uncertainty about their practice. However, Conner, Bickens and

Bittman, (2009) found that creative teaching in combination with classic

literature was effective in an inclusive classroom.

A focus of teachers‘ strategies is to make concepts clear. This resulted in

participants attempting innovative strategies such as ‗feedback

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mechanisms‘ or ‗peer assessment‘. It was believed that if students could

get the kind of instruction they needed, they could succeed. Moin,

Magiera, and Zigmond (2009) reported that students with learning

disabilities could succeed by getting needs-based instruction.

The qualitative data supports socio-cultural theory on inclusion, as

Florian and Kershner (2009) stipulate ―one of the implications of socio-

cultural thinking is to acknowledge teaching as a complex activity in the

collective experience of classroom learning in particular contexts‖

(p.178). Teachers showed their positive responses toward the issue.

Moreover, all six teachers understood the phenomenon differently. This

difference in understanding could be explained from a socio-cultural

view, because of the emphasis on diversity of thinking, people and

contexts (Florian and Kershner, 2009). Respondents‘ differences within

their practice are the reflection of differences in knowledge and viewing

the situation differently.

Clement (2010) reported the need for a quality lesson plan to reduce the

incidence of problem behaviours. This supports the adage that lesson

planning is very important for teaching. However, participants reflected a

level of ignorance in preparing lesson plans. In order to build inclusive

schools, the issues of inclusion should be reflected at the base level of

lesson plans. Surprisingly, no lesson plan addressed such issues. In fact,

without having a perfect classroom management plan in place (Clement,

2010), the chances of successful lesson outcomes are reduced. Thus, it is

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the duty of administrators to encourage teachers to change their attitudes

towards the preparation of lesson plans in order to develop inclusive

education practices.

Respondents appeared to be interested in finding effective intervention

strategies. However, many controversial issues exist in the field of

special education (Atkinson, Hornby & Howard, 1997; Mitchell, 2008).

The effective interventions are found in evidence-based practice, but

teachers did not conceptualise as Lester (2007) did. According to him, the

main principle of evidence-based practice is that it involves making

decisions based on ‗evidence‘ rather than on, for instance, untested

theory, customary practice, political dogma or uncritical benchmarking.

However, ―Teachers‘ experiences must be acknowledged and valued‖

(MacDonald, 2010, p. 431). The teachers reported incorporating their

ways to do their best for all students. They consequently used feedback,

collaborative learning and mind mapping. According to John Hattie‘s

mega meta-analysis research, the effective size for feedback is 0.73

(Hattie, 2009). A range of interventions were identified by the

participants to be effective. Participants used techniques such as

rearranging seating arrangements, quizzes, and linking with reality to

bring about mental attention. Nevertheless, observation data confirmed

that teaching aids were not sufficient. Participants used the blackboard,

chalk, duster, globe, text books, pictures, black board, maps, models, and

overhead projector as their teaching aids. However, participants thought

125

that the use of teaching aids depends on the content and student‘s needs.

Brainstorming and ice-breaking strategies were also used to increase

class attentiveness.

Even though methods that emphasise participation may create challenges

in classroom management, participants reported effective use of these

methods. It was reported as helpful in supporting the below average

students to participate actively. Introducing cooperative group teaching

by forming mixed ability groups helps all the students to achieve a

targeted skill in a competitive environment. A few participants applied

the peer method for teaching disabled students. Reinforcement such as a

rewarding quiz, verbal praise and positive feedback helped to manage the

classes. In teaching Bangla, participants found storytelling and role play,

phonological methods, communicative approach, and review and practice

to be useful. Dramatisation of the stories related to everyday life attracted

students to the task and offered easy ways of remembering. Teachers

were engaged in the supervision, monitoring and evaluation of their

classroom activities. Respondents pointed out that it was very important

to have an understanding of the students‘ progress and the most

commonly reported method of recording progress was the provision of

homework tasks and then analysing performance to determine what the

student had learned.

The findings explore hidden disabilities as one of the untouched aspects

of inclusive practice in secondary schools in Bangladesh. Respondents

126

reported that it was very common that there were some students whose

impairment was not immediately noticeable or not obviously apparent.

These students were classified as experiencing ‗hidden disabilities‘,

creating many challenges in inclusive settings. As a result, the classroom

teacher may not be able to immediately recognise these students within

his/ her class. That is why teachers were unable to provide any special

attention to them for their special needs in learning. For example, it is

evident that ―as educators, we have a unique opportunity to help children

reach their full potential, but we must first be aware of the special needs

for the dyspraxia [hidden disability] child that should be acknowledged

and appropriately addressed‖ (Stansell, 2007, p.2). Teachers were

concerned with hidden disabilities, but they had limited ideas or

knowledge on appropriate diagnostic mechanisms and intervention

strategies regarding these students.

Respondents perceived that special knowledge on Braille and sign

language was necessary in order to teach students with visual impairment

and students with hearing impairment respectively. They also reported

that students with severe intellectual disabilities should be placed in

special education settings. However, throughout the study respondents

were gradually embracing inclusion and constructing their meaning of

being a teacher within an inclusive setting. According to the respondents,

their practices now focused on: ‗addressing issues of the students‘, ‗to be

prepared‘, and ‗adopting strategies to teach all students‘. Furthermore, a

127

teacher should be honest, committed to the task, and resourceful.

Ownership within the institution to students for active participation could

be an example of empowering the classroom. Empowering the classroom

would be helpful to construct inclusive pedagogy, as Florian and

Kershner (2009) found, ―The element of inclusive pedagogy clearly

spread beyond individual classrooms to include the beliefs, values and

decision-making processes evident in the wider contexts of School and

society‖ (p.175).

Participants suggested that government should take pragmatic steps to

ensure access of students with disabilities to education, because the

Constitution of Bangladesh affirmed equality of opportunity (article 19)

and article 28 provides safeguards against all discriminations (Ministry of

Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, 2000). Comparing the responses

from urban and rural school teachers shows that urbanisation does affect

practice. Urban schools were perceived as more open to students with

disabilities. On the other hand, the rural teacher had very limited scopes.

In fact, the urban-rural gap has created a vacuum in the secondary

schools in terms of quality of practice. Wallace, et al. (2009) found by

their extensive analysis of twelve key schools, that there was a difference

in practice between small rural schools and big inner-city community

schools.

Respondents perceived social dialogue as a useful tool to get feedback

and ideas to improve the conditions and pedagogic contexts, as agreed

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upon by Littleton and Howe (2010). The findings show that dialogues

between students and teachers contribute to developing inclusive

environments in the classroom. Collaboration with colleagues and parents

is at the centre of social dialogue, because social dialogue provides a

clear, accessible and well-illustrated case for the development of learning

and teaching (Littleton & Howe, 2010).

Both the interviews and observations indicated that the respondents had a

willingness to move towards inclusive education. Two important findings

emerged from the analysis. Firstly, teachers generally exhibited positive

attitudes and beliefs about inclusive education (Mortier, Hunt, Leroy, van

de Putte, & van Hove, 2010). Secondly, teachers also take the initiative to

practice inclusive education in their classroom. So, it was suggested that

despite the increasing popularity of inclusion reforms, their impact

remains unclear. However, there was a point to many potential benefits of

including students with disabilities (Cook, Cameron & Tankersley,

2007). In this case, building relationships was perceived as particularly

useful, as Cavanagh claimed ―relationships must be the central aim of

education‖ (2008, p.21).This is because, the person who knows the child

well in regular life environments has been proven to be invaluable in

order to understand the child‘s context to be able to think about realistic

and appropriate supports (Mortier, et al., 2010).

Wallace, et al. (2009) reported findings which are applicable to all

schools. Raising the achievement of all students within an inclusive

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setting is needed to identify and resolve underachievement in schools.

The respondents firmly believed that they could do better in time within

an inclusive classroom.

Teachers‘ responsibility appeared to have changed due to differences of

students within classrooms. Teachers reported thinking differently about

students with disabilities. Florian and Kershner (2009) reported that

―(Individual) differences among all learners do not have to be constructed

as problems inherent within learners that are outside of the expertise of

classroom teachers‖ (p.174). As classroom teachers, respondents were

experimenting with their strategies to accommodate the needs of all

children in their classes. Findings suggest that respondents were aware of

students‘ need, because teachers need to listen to students and relate

instructions with students‘ needs, because students want their teacher to

be genuine (Melnechenko & Horsman, 1998).

Teachers faced a number of challenges when supporting a child with a

disability in the inclusive classroom. Their challenges could be best

expressed with the Ocean Liner analogy. They feel like an Ocean Liner in

the deep ocean without radar. They could not set their direction. The

ocean expresses the amount of their problems. According to the

ecological system theory of Bronfenbrenner (2005), the challenges come

from different levels, such as the micro-level that includes student

factors, parent factors, sibling factors; the meso-level factor such as

extended family, neighbour, friends and colleagues; the eco-factor like

130

radio, television, newspaper, education, health and social welfare factor;

and finally from the macro system which includes ethnicity, religious,

culture. Participants reported that their journey with inclusive education

was at the inception point. They thought it was an appropriate time to

change the schooling system. Beyond negative circumstances, one

inspiration was clearly reflected in the survey. There prevails no doubt

among the teachers regarding the potential of inclusive education. Most

of the respondents were in favour of inclusive education, while only 33%

believed that special education was still the best option for students with

disabilities in Bangladesh. However, the top-down model of decision

making and highly centralised curriculum fails to reflect the teachers‘

voices. The teachers who are in favour of special education, state that

most of the regular schools of Bangladesh are not ready to include

students with moderate to severe disabilities, which would mean that still

no meaningful support system has been developed or introduced. The

student with disabilities would get better service from special schools,

and might have a better chance of acquiring some vocational skills along

with academic skills. None of the participants had access to any therapy

services (e.g., for students with physical and/ or speech and language

disabilities) at the mainstream school.

One of the debates regarding including children with disabilities in

general education arises from the findings may affect the quality as well

131

of performance of children without disabilities in the class. Research

shows that the test performance of students without disabilities remained

unaffected by the presence of students with disabilities in regular

education classes (Idol, 2006). Recent empirical research shows that both

quality and equity can be achieved through an inclusive education system

(Acedo, Ferrer, & P`amies, 2009).

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4.2 Recommendations

The following recommendations are drawn from the study findings

with the intention of contributing to improvement in the inclusive

education practices in Bangladesh. On reviewing the above theoretical

frameworks, literature and policies, findings and discussion towards

inclusive education for students with disabilities into the classroom, the

following five general assumptions had been made to be reflected in

practices:

- All children have a right to an effective education;

- Every child is a unique individual;

- All children, no matter what their functioning level, can

learn;

- No single set of interventions or remedial procedures is

effective under all conditions with all children;

- No matter how well designed and executed classroom

intervention process may be, their effectiveness will be

limited unless they target the function of the child‘s

behaviour.

The information reported in this study provides the basis for the

development of both a short-term and a long-term strategic plan for the

development of inclusive education in Bangladesh. The UNESCO‘s

(2001) nine golden rules of inclusive education (consisting of all

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students, communication, managing classrooms, lesson planning,

individual plans, individual help, assistive aids, managing behaviour,

working together) will also support the development of such a strategic

plan. Within this plan, there is a need to initiate in-depth professional

orientation in inclusive pedagogy with a view to change teachers‘

tendency of following teacher-centric instructional approaches rather than

student-centric approaches. Teachers also need to be supplied with

adequate teaching aids – including the opportunity for teachers to access

up-to-date technology in the classroom. It is also recommended

modifying the teaching and learning environments including physical

infrastructure as much as possible. For example, schools should take

steps to reduce background noise in the classroom and consider new

seating arrangements with movable furniture rather than fixed furniture.

Schools could carry out comprehensive surveys within their catchment

areas to identify potential students with disabilities. However, the value

of inclusive education to learners comes from mixing and sharing with

other children (Savic, 2007). The teachers need to encourage this to

happen. On the other hand, it is high time to ensure the educational

provisions for students with disabilities according to the options mentioned

in the Disability Welfare Act 2001, such as creating an opportunity for

free education for children with disabilities under 18 years of age,

providing them with educational materials free of cost, and ensuring

inclusive education.

134

Reforming policies are the second suggested target to ensure rights of

students with disabilities as full and equal members of society and the

right to enter into and benefit from education. Every school could form a

disability resource team, headed by an assistant head teacher to carry out

the policy reformation and other disability-related activities. If needed, a

post of ‗special educator‘ could be created in every school.

In Bangladesh, different superstitions are prevalent in the community,

such as disability being a sign of punishment from God to parents as a

result of committing a crime. These myths must be tackled in order to

raise community awareness of the potential and rights of students with

disabilities. In this regard, disability sensitisation issues would be

included in all the school meetings (e.g., weekly teachers meeting,

monthly meeting of the SMC, and meeting with parents) and continuous

professional development training to raise awareness. Schools could also

organise cultural shows focusing the rights and educational needs of

students with disabilities under the direct supervision of the respective

teachers. Teachers could form a drama or cultural team. Students with

disabilities should be included in that team with their non-disabled peers.

It is evident from participants that managing the behaviour of a few

students with disabilities was not so easy. However, children need to

learn to behave in socially acceptable ways through guidance and

counselling. In this respect, the Bangladeshi secondary education should

135

ensure referral, guidance and counselling at the school level is an

essential element for inclusive education.

Empirical evidence suggests that the respondents were generally positive

about educating students with disabilities in general schools, but they are

not sure how to do implement this (Idol, 2006). This uncertainty appears

mainly due to the absence of proper support, resources and knowledge.

On the other hand, lack of appropriate technology is limiting the scope of

inclusion (Idol, 2006). To overcome such circumstances, school-based

resource centres and support services need to be established. To support

these services, appropriate screening and assessment procedures must be

implemented.

To ensure progress of students with disabilities, appropriate examination,

evaluation and feedback systems need to be introduced. The

establishment of a continuous evaluation and feedback systems to assess

and maintain the quality of education. It is also necessary to reform the

existing approaches and practices by identifying their drawbacks. In this

regards, continuing evaluation and feedback systems could be initiated

and practiced for assessing the academic performance of all learners,

including students with disabilities.

To encourage students with disabilities in education, motivation and

reward could be an effective measure. Ensuring enrolment and reduction

in the dropout rate of students with disabilities should be the main aims.

Building relationships are an important aspect of inclusion. Relationships

136

between teachers, teacher-student, parent-teacher, and community-

schools are indispensable. To support relationship-building, schools

could take several initiatives like forming an effective parent teacher

association (PTA), organising various community events in the school,

and using school buildings as a community centre on the weekend and

holidays.

Appropriate initiatives need to be taken to make a bridge between the

community and inclusive education. In fact, the community as a whole

can provide better support to students (De Jong, 2005). Though the

resources are limited, using local resources for systematic interventions

for the promotion of education of student with disabilities could be a

reasonable option for the school. In this regard, schools could undertake a

resource identification survey, and afterwards establish effective

communication with the potential resources. Educational related experts

like speech therapists, educational audiologists, and educational

psychologists should be appointed on a regional basis to support

general teachers. On the other hand, parents should get proper

guidance on their child‘s progress. They should get information on

their child's strengths and weaknesses from the respective teachers as

well as suggestions for home-based interactions to support the

development.

137

Finally, the findings of the study indicate the demand for further research

on issues related to the central phenomenon of inclusive education

practice in the broader aspects. Research also needs to be undertaken in the

micro level to identify different perspectives (such as parents, or students)

of inclusive education practice. Another line of research that focuses on

supporting teachers to determine how much simplification of curriculum

or change of the learning environment will help students with disabilities

cope comfortably with the inclusive education settings.

4.3 Implications of the Findings

The study identified the primary implications of the findings. The

implications show that findings are applicable to facilitate education of

children with disabilities within an inclusive setting. The key findings of

this research are:

help teachers to practice inclusive education.

provide ideas, especially to parents, teachers, peers and other

people about the potential of inclusive education practice.

information to develop guidelines for policy makers within

education sectors to take necessary steps for ensuring

inclusive education for children with disabilities.

the provision of information to classroom teachers to facilitate

the education of children with disabilities while considering

138

appropriate strategies.

support for teachers and parents of students with disabilities to

design future educational plans for children.

a reference for researchers in Bangladesh as well as other

developing countries who may want to undertake further

research on topics relating to inclusive education practice.

observing the study findings teachers would be confident and

will be inspired for their future practices for students with

disabilities.

information to support regular school authorities to provide equal

chances in education for students with disabilities.

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Conclusion

This study was significant because the concept of inclusive education is

new to the secondary schools of Bangladesh educational context, where

educations of a large number of students with disabilities are depending

on successful implementation of inclusive education practice. As a result

the study would explore the inclusive education from teachers‘

perspectives. Theoretically inclusive schooling is a moral obligation of

the Bangladesh education system.

Two important findings emerged from the analysis. Teachers‘ attitudes

and beliefs about inclusive education were somehow positive, and they

take the initiative to practice inclusive education in their classroom.

Teachers realised that inclusion could increase acceptance of students

with disabilities both in the classroom and society. Not having the scopes

to cover the needs of teaching students with hearing impairments, visual

impairments, and students with moderate intellectual disabilities within

existing professional orientation system, teachers were in a challenging

situation to deal with. As a result, findings report a wide difference

within participants‘ practice in the reflection of differences in knowledge

and viewing the situation. The participants introduced their need-based

teaching strategies. Due to the large class size and absence of support

mechanism, teachers‘ practices are facing enormous challenges.

140

The findings of this study cannot be generalised beyond the sample. The

contribution of this study, however, lies in demonstrating what can

happen when teachers are committed to the accomplishment of the goal

of improving the day-to-day practice of including students with

disabilities. It shows that effective practices are often based on real-life

(local) knowledge, mutual engagement and accountability, joint

enterprise and shared repertoire of experiences with the child. However,

Mortier, et al. (2010) expressed that the construction of ideas, committed

to a successful and positive atmosphere could provide the best

opportunities of getting an education for students with disabilities. Most

of the teachers predicted that, if resources are available to support

inclusion, and if there is adequate administrative support and appropriate

infrastructure, teaching material and technological devices, then the aim

of inclusive education will be successful.

141

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Interview 1 Guideline for the Teachers

Place: Date:

A. Background of the participant

i) Name of the respondent

ii) Designation

iii) Age

iv) Gender

v) Highest level of education completed.

vi) Previous Training (general and disability/inclusive education)

vii) Time length of involvement in this job

viii) Reasons for becoming a teacher

ix) Interaction with peoples with disabilities

x) Have you ever taught a student with a disability?

xi) Level of confidence in teaching students with disabilities.

xii) Knowledge of the Disability Welfare Act [BD] (2001)

B. About the children with disabilities of your class

i) Number of children with disabilities and types, gender and age

ii) How did they get an educational placement and enrolment in this school?

iii) Did children with disabilities arrive with previous training, for example

speech and language training?

iv) How would you consider their academic condition (progress, interest,

interaction, difficulties, acceptance) (describe critically).

v) What are the barriers in education for a student with a disability?

Code PreInt

159

C. About inclusive practice

i) What do you think about or understand to be inclusive education?

ii) What do you think the idea of Inclusive education?

iii) How do you put Inclusion into practice?

iv) Do you think inclusive education is helpful for students? Why?

Explain.

Prompts

Inclusive education is…

I am not clear about the . . .

What do you mean by….?

Tell me more…?

Did I get you correctly…

Can you give me another example of that…

How? Why? Really?

160

Appendix 2

Participant Observation Schedule

Observation no- Code-

Date of observation-

Time-

Class-

A. Details of classroom activity-

Boys Girl

Total student

Present

CWDs

*CWDs-Children with Disabilities

Diagram- Seating arrangement (focusing CWDs)

1 / 2

161

B. Guideline for observing teaching-learning activities

Criteria Comments

1. Professional skills and attitude

(Discipline, attitude, Presentation,

responsiveness, Feedback)

2. Plan (Goal and lesson plan, preparedness)

3. Content knowledge

(Depth, Confidence, concept)

4. Communication

(Pronunciation, proximity, eye-

contact)

5. Group Management

(time, group formation, monitoring

and supervision)

6. Methods and classroom

management

Using different methods, seating

arrangement

7. Engagement

Motivating the student, engaging them

with works

8. Questioning

9. Teaching aids

Use of aids and black board

10. Relationship

Student-student-teacher

11. Evaluation

162

c. Scale for evaluating strategies for enhancing learning: Evaluating

practice

No Criteria Rating Comments

A B C D

1. Employs co-operative group teaching

2. Employs Peer Tutoring

3. Regularly reviews and practices

4. Employs formative assessment

5. Provide Regular feedback

6. Provides cognitive strategy instruction

7. Encourages self-regulated learning

8. Teachers memory strategies

9. Employs reciprocal teaching

10. Employs behavioral approaches

11. Provides social skills instruction

12. Creates a positive classroom climate

13. Provides adequate active learning time

14. Adapts the curriculum

15. Adapts assessment methods

16. Uses available information and

communication technology

17. Engages in collaborative teaching

18. Actively involves parents

19. Teachers phonological processing

20. Provides a physical environment that

enables learning

21. Employs functional behavioral assessment

skills

22. Ensure optional success

163

Appendix 3

Questionnaire

On

Teacher practices and attitudes toward and concerns about inclusive education

Inclusive education means that all students with disabilities are mainstreamed

and become the responsibility of the regular class teacher who is supported by

specialists.

Please Rate Your Self about Your Strategies and Practices

No Criteria Rating Very

often

Often Occasi

onally

Rarely/

Never

1. I use mixed ability co-operative group teaching

2. I use Peer Tutoring

3. In my Lesson I review and practice the key ideas of previous

lesson

4. I evaluate all pupils‘ progress during lessons and adjust my

teaching as a result

5. I provide feedback to all pupils in my class

6. I teach my pupils cognitive strategies; i.e. problem solving

strategies

7. I encourage my pupils‘ to set goals and to evaluate their own

progress in achieving them

8. I teach my pupils a range of memory strategies*

9. I assist my pupils to improve their reading comprehension by

predicting, questioning and summarizing texts

10. I use behavioral approaches in my teaching, especially in the

case of pupils with behavioural difficulties

11. I teach my pupils appropriate social skills

12. I try to create a classroom climate safe, predictable and

motivating

13. I try to ensure my pupils have adequate time for learning

14. I adapts the curriculum to suit the needs of all my pupils

15. I adapt assessment methods to suit the needs of all my pupils

16. I use available information and communication technology,

including assistive technology for pupils with disabilities

17. I actively co-operate with other professionals and teachers

18. I actively involve parents in their children‘s programme

19. In the case of beginning readers, I teach phonological

processing (e.g., listening skills and phonics)

20. My classroom environment (e.g. lighting, Ventilation, sound)

is optimal for learning

Code Qst

164

* Please describe one

21. In the case of pupils‘ undesirable social behaviours, I analyze

what purpose they serve and design ways of changing them

22. I ensure that all my pupils achieve a 90 percent or better

success rate on critical tasks

23. I use other strategies (please mention)

24.

25.

165

Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale

This scale concerns "inclusive education" as one method of teaching students

with disabilities in the regular school environment.

Please place one number next to each question that describes how you

usually feel.

On the blank line, please place the number indicating your reaction to every

item according to how much you agree or disagree with each statement. Please

provide an answer for every item.

Strongly

Agree

7

Agree

6

Agree

Somewhat

5

Neutral

4

Disagree

Somewhat

3

Disagree

2

Strongly

Disagree

1

_____ 1. Students whose academic achievement is 2 or more years below the

other students in the grade should be in regular classes.

_____ 2. Students who are physically aggressive toward their peers should be

in regular classes.

_____ 3. Students who cannot move without help from others should be in

regular classes.

_____ 4. Students who are shy and withdrawn should be in regular classes.

___ 5. Students whose academic achievement is 1 year below the other

students in the grade should be in regular classes.

_____ 6. Students whose speech is difficult to understand should be in regular

classes.

_____ 7. Students who cannot read standard print and need to use Braille

should be in regular classes.

_____ 8. Students who are verbally aggressive toward their peers should be in

regular classes.

_____ 9. Students who have difficulty expressing their thoughts verbally

should be in regular classes.

_____ 10. Students who need training in self-help skills and activities of daily

living should be in regular classes.

166

_____ 11. Students who use sign language or communication boards should be

in regular classes.

_____ 12. Students who cannot control their behavior and disrupt activities

should be in regular classes.

_____ 13. Students who need an individualised functional academic program

in everyday reading and math skills should be in regular classes.

____ 14. Students who cannot hear conversational speech should be in

regular classes.

____ 15. Students who do not follow school rules for conduct should be in

regular classes.

____ 16. Students who are frequently absent from schools should be in

regular classes

Other Comments on Inclusive Education

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN

COMPLETING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE

167

Appendix 4

Interview 2 : Guideline for the Teachers

A) About children with disabilities in your classroom

1. Describe a typical day with children with disabilities in your class?

2. How students with disabilities were included in your class?

3. What were your feelings then? Do you think that this is (your

class/school) the appropriate place for the disabled students?

4. Did you find any problem because of the enrolment of those students?

5. Does the presence of children with disabilities hamper your quality of

life or teaching-learning activities?

6. Do you feel any challenges to manage children with disabilities in the

class?

7. When you find any problem with them, where do you sought for help?

8. Do you have teaching assistants or teaching staff to help them? Do you

think it is important to have? Why?

9. How do peer group treat with the impaired student? Did you give them

any lesson? If yes, what is that? Please provide an example.

10. How do parents of PWDs interact with you and support you in

academic activities? Do you find any frustration among them?

11. Do the children with special needs have access to specialised services,

such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, hearing

services, speech therapy, crisis management, mobility services or vision

services?

12. Are there any specialists say, speech pathologists, occupational

therapists, who from time to time help teachers address the special

needs of the children with disabilities within the classroom?

Code PostInt

168

13. Are there materials or special aids for facilitating specific

communication needs of children, including lessons in Braille, sign

language, drawing or use of audio-tapes?

B) Academic activities related information

1. Do you offer any extra tutorial support for the PWDS? If yes, please

specify…..

2. How much time is Given for extra support? (Total Amount,

approximately):

3. Do you find any particular difficulty to teach any special subject for

children with disabilities?

4. Which subject do you think children with disabilities find easier or

harder? Why?

5. Do you feel that if get Support from professional you would do better?

Why?

6. Please Comments on Progress/academic achievement of children with

disabilities comparison with children without disabilities.

7. How do you communicate with the children with disabilities in the

class?

8. The seating arrangements into the class room. Who suggested this

arrangement?

9. How do you assess the progress of performance of children with

disabilities? Is it difficult or easy?

169

C) General areas of information

1. Highlight mechanisms and strategies which have proved effective in

making the initiatives successful and identify the factors which

contributed to the success.

2. Identify the areas of concerns and constraints.

3. Focus on the issues and opportunities that need to be addressed for

successful mainstreaming of children with disabilities.

4. Highlight the main implications of the lessons learned.

5. Provide recommendations based on the lessons learned.

6. What should be an ideal role of a classroom teacher for teaching into

inclusive environment?

7. Comments on educational rights of CWDs and inclusive education.

8. How would you like to see inclusive education in Bangladesh?

9. Any special comment………………………………

Prompts

Inclusive education is…

I am not clear about the . . .

What do you mean by….?

Tell me more…?

Did I get you correctly…

Can you give me another example of that…

How? Why? Really?

Date of interview

Place of interview

Interview by

Note: This schedule is just like a guideline. It might be changed after

observation if needed

170

Appendix 5

Information Letter for Teachers

August 27, 2010

Name

Designation,

Address

Dear Sir/Madam,

Project Title: Inclusive Education Practice for Secondary School Students

with Disabilities in Bangladesh

My name is Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman and I am a teacher educator from

Bangladesh, working towards a Masters of Education at the College of

Education, University of Canterbury. My study is called ‗Inclusive Education

Practice for Secondary School Students with Disabilities in Bangladesh‘. The

purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand and describe the

inclusive education practice for children with disabilities at secondary school in

Bangladesh. I have defined inclusive practice as a system that serves all students

adequately in regular classrooms with the required support. I will be working

under the supervision of Dr. Dean Sutherland, Senior Lecturer in Child

Development and Early Intervention in the Health Science Centre of the College

of Education, along with Professor David M. Mitchell, Adjunct Professor,

University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

mmr57@uclive.ac.nz Cell- +64226429188 (NZ) +8801711958348 (Ban)

171

Data will be collected from interviews with teachers conducted on two

occasions within a seven day period (during September/October, 2011) followed

by two classroom observations. In the interview, I will ask predetermined

questions about teachers‘ experience of inclusive practices. Each interview

should take 40-50 minutes to complete and will be completed during lunch

hour. The sequence of study activities will be (1) (day 1) interview focused on

general inclusive education and children with disabilities; (2) (day 2)

observation in classroom; (3) (day 3) observation two, and; (4) (day 8) final

interview and questionnaire. Questionnaires will focus on classroom strategies

and practices, and teacher attitudes towards inclusive education.

Please note that participation in this study is voluntary. If you do participate,

you have the right to decline to answer any questions and to withdraw from the

study at any time prior to publication. All data will be treated confidentially and

anonymity will be preserved at all times. As part of the research process, the

researcher will undertake both interviews and observations. Your interview will

be recorded on an audiotape recorder. No information that could identify any

individual participant will be published. Pseudonyms will be used to maintain

the anonymity of participants. All data is to be securely stored in password

protected facilities and/or preserved by me for five years following the study.

After 5 years, the data will be destroyed. If desired, all participants will receive

a report on the findings of this study and a copy of any resulting publication.

Please contact me if you have any further queries or concerns about the project

or would like to be informed of the research findings. I can be reached by phone

on +8801711958348 or by email mmr57@uclive.ac.nz. If you have a complaint

about the study, you may contact Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Joint Secretary &

Project Director, TQI-SEP, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

(DSHE), Bangladesh, Dhaka (email-nazrul@tqi-sep.org), or the chair,

Educational Research Human Ethics Committee, University of Canterbury,

Private Bag-4800, Christchurch (email- human-ethics@canterbury.ac.nz).

172

Moreover, the project has received permission from the DG, DSHE,

Bangladesh.

If you agree to be a part of this research, please sign and return the attached

consent form in the envelope provided by Day/Date/Month. Please be advised

that you can withdraw at any time by contacting the researcher.

With Warm Regards,

Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman

Lecturer (Education), OSD,

Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education,

Dhaka, Bangladesh-1000.

Note:

1. This project has received ethical approval from the University of Canterbury

Educational Research Human Ethics Committee

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz

173

Appendix 6

Informed Consent to Participate from Teachers

Declaration of Consent to Participate

I agree to participate in a research study of Inclusive Education Practice for

Secondary School Students with Disabilities in Bangladesh. I have read and

understood the information provided about this research project. I understand

that my participation is voluntary and that I may withdraw at any time prior to

publication of the findings. I understand the purpose and nature of this study

and I am participating voluntarily. I understand that any information or opinions

I provide will be kept confidential to the researcher and that any published or

reported results will not identify me or my institution. I understand that all data

from this research will be stored securely for five years following the study. I

understand that I will receive a report on the findings of this study and have

provided my mailing/email details below for this purpose. If I have any

complaints, I can contact Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Joint Secretary & Project

Director, TQI-SEP, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE),

Bangladesh, Dhaka (email-nazrul@tqi-sep.org), or the chair, Educational

Research Human Ethics Committee, University of Canterbury, Private Bag-

4800, Christchurch (email- human-ethics@canterbury.ac.nz). Moreover, I

understood that the project has received permission from the Director General,

DSHE, Bangladesh.

mmr57@uclive.ac.nz Cell- +64226429188 (NZ) +8801711958348 (Ban)

174

By signing below, I agree to participate in this research project and grant my

permission for the data to be use in the process of completing an M.Ed degree,

including a thesis and any other future publications. I also grant permission for

interviews and observations to be audio-recorded.

Name:

Date:

Signature:

Email:

Please return this completed consent form in the envelope provided by

28/08/2010

Thank you for your contribution to this study.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz

175

Appendix 7

Information Letter for Head Teacher/ Principal

Address of Recipient

Date/Month/Year

Dear ..........................(Principal/Head Teacher)

Inclusive Education Practice for Secondary School Students with

Disabilities in Bangladesh

Information for Principal/ Head Teacher

My name is Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman and I am a teacher educator

from Bangladesh, working towards a Masters of Education at the College

of Education, University of Canterbury. My study is called ‗Inclusive

Education Practice for Secondary School Students with Disabilities in

Bangladesh‘. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to

understand and describe the inclusive education practice for children with

disabilities at secondary school in Bangladesh. I have defined inclusive

practice as a system that serves all students adequately in regular

classrooms with the required support. I will be working under the

supervision of Dr. Dean Sutherland, Senior Lecturer in Child

Development and Early Intervention in the Health Science Centre of the

mmr57@uclive.ac.nz Cell- +64226429188 (NZ) +8801711958348 (Ban)

176

College of Education, along with Professor David M. Mitchell, Adjunct

Professor, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Data will be collected from interviews with teachers conducted on two

occasions within a seven day period (during September/October, 2011)

followed by two classroom observations. In the interview, I will ask

predetermined questions about teachers‘ experience of inclusive

practices. Each interview should take 40-50 minutes to complete and will

be completed during lunch hour. The sequence of study activities will be

(1) (day 1) interview focused on general inclusive education and children

with disabilities; (2) (day 2) observation in classroom; (3) (day 3)

observation two, and; (4) (day 8) final interview and questionnaire.

Questionnaires will focus on classroom strategies and practices, and

teacher attitudes towards inclusive education.

Please note that participation in this study is voluntary. If you do

participate, you have the right to decline to answer any questions and to

withdraw from the study at any time prior to publication. All data will be

treated confidentially and anonymity will be preserved at all times. As

part of the research process, the researcher will undertake both interviews

and observations. Your interview will be recorded on an audiotape

recorder. No information that could identify any individual participant

will be published. Pseudonyms will be used to maintain the anonymity of

participants. All data is to be securely stored in password protected

facilities and/or preserved by me for five years following the study. If

desired, all participants will receive a report on the findings of this study

and a copy of any resulting publication.

Please contact me if you have any further queries or concerns about the

project or would like to be informed of the research findings. I can be

reached by phone on +8801711958348 or by email mmr57@uclive.ac.nz.

If you have a complaint about the study, you may contact Mr. Md. Nazrul

177

Islam, Joint Secretary & Project Director, TQI-SEP, Directorate of

Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Bangladesh, Dhaka (email-

nazrul@tqi-sep.org), or the chair, Educational Research Human Ethics

Committee, University of Canterbury, Private Bag-4800, Christchurch

(email- human-ethics@canterbury.ac.nz). Moreover, the project has

received permission from the DG, DSHE, Bangladesh.

If you agree to this research being undertaken in your school, please sign

and return the attached consent form.

Thank you.

Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman

Lecturer (Education), OSD,

Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education,

Dhaka, Bangladesh-1000.

This project has received ethical approval from the University of Canterbury

Educational Research Human Ethics Committee

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz

178

Appendix 8

Declaration of Consent to Participate (From School)

Declaration of Consent to Participate (from School)

I agree on behalf of my institution to participate in a research study of Inclusive

Education Practice for Secondary School Students with Disabilities in

Bangladesh. I have read and understood the information provided about this

research project. I understand that participation in this research is voluntary and

that my school may withdraw at any time prior to publication of the findings. I

understand that all information will be kept confidential to the researcher and

that any published or reported results will not identify me or my institution. I

understand that all data from this research will be stored securely for five years

following the study. I understand that my institution will receive a report on the

findings of this study and have provided my mailing/email details below for this

purpose.

If I have any complaints, I can contact Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Joint Secretary &

Project Director, TQI-SEP, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

(DSHE), Bangladesh, Dhaka (email-nazrul@tqi-sep.org), or the chair,

Educational Research Human Ethics Committee, University of Canterbury,

Private Bag-4800, Christchurch (email- human-ethics@canterbury.ac.nz).

mmr57@uclive.ac.nz Cell- +64226429188 (NZ) +8801711958348 (Ban)

179

Moreover, I understood that the project has got permission from the DG, DSHE,

Bangladesh

By signing below, I agree to participate on behalf of my school in this research

project and grant my permission for the data to be used in the process of

completing an M.Ed degree, including a thesis and any other future

publications. I also grant permission to audio-recording of the classroom

observations. I also understand that the researcher will obtain the consent of the

classroom teacher before interviews and observations are carried out.

Name:

Date:

Signature:

Email :

Please return this completed consent form in the envelope provided by

Day/Date/Month

Re: Declaration of Consent to Participate

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz

Thank you for your contribution to this study

180

Appendix 9

Ethical Approval Letter from ERHIC

181

Appendix 10

Permission from Appropriate Authority of Bangladesh and Consent

of the Local Contract